Snow Petals on her Face
by FutureAirbender18
Summary: Nineteen year old Hakoda is dealing with the frustrating decisions of his upcoming future, when he meets fifteen year old Kya. The problem is that she doesn't even give him a second thought.
1. Chapter 1

**Time: 8:45 PM……..weeeeeeeeee**

**When I am bored I watch episodes of Avatar. Today's had Hakoda in it, and I for some reason just pictured him younger, in the southern water tribe. I wanted to write a story about him….. YEY a young Hakoda! **

**Hope you like it…. I just write strange stories sometimes…. Haha, sorry. **

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Avatar; the Last Airbender. ……*heavy sigh*_

* * *

He delivered a rough blow to his opponent with his fist, while twirling around and swinging his water tribe sword at the two that were pursuing behind him. One of the guys moved to the left to dodge it, but was quickly run into the stomach by Hakoda's forceful foot. Bato, the other opponent, ducked under his arm, popping up behind him. He swung his sword at Hakoda, near his neck. Barely making it out of the way in time, Hakoda jerked his head roughly to the right.

As he jerked away, the sword sliced the air barely missing his neck, and did succeed in cutting his small braid that was caught in mid flight. His eyes watched it as it silently fell to the snow. The bead slipped off and rolled a few inches away from his boot.

Hakoda blew hot air out of his nostrils. _Dang, _he thought, _That had taken me months to get to the perfect length._

Now that Bato had succeeded in ticking him off, Hakoda swiftly moved towards him, ducking under his sword and reaching up slightly behind him as Bato swung once again where their swords clashed. Pushing against one another the two friends struggled to gain dominance, until Hakoda stomped his feet into the pile of snow, creating a foot hold and pushed at Bato with all his might.

Bato stumbled backwards as he tried to keep his balance. Hakoda pulled his feet out quickly from the snow pile and stepped around him, tripping him, ultimately making him fall once and for all.

His partner fell with a thud, where once on the ground, Hakoda pointed his sword at his neck, glaring defiantly.

Staring at him darkly only lasted a moment though. Hakoda broke into a hearty laugh and reached his hand down, pulling Bato out of the snow.

Bato grinned, got up, and clamped a strong hand on Hakoda's shoulder.

"No matter how much I train, or how many people I team up with, I just can't beat you."

Hakoda smiled, swinging his sword over his shoulder. His now short chunk of hair hung in his eyes.

"Bato," he glowered, his smile disappearing, "Thanks for the haircut. That took me four months to just get into a braid, let alone get longer to get a bead on it."

Bato inspected his place where the braid had been. "Oops, did I actually get you? Maybe I am a better fighter than I thought, if I could actually _touch _you."

Hakoda sighed heavily, trying to blow the short hair out of his eyes.

His training master walked up to them, his arms crossed. When the trainer did this, it was a sign that he was pleased with their work. Hakoda and Bato bowed to one another and faced their master.

"Nice work men," he simply stated, "Although Bato, you need to work on your balance a bit it seems."

Bato reached up to scratch the back of his head, "Yep," he agreed and looked up at the snow clouds.

The master turned to Hakoda, "And it seems to me Hakoda that you were a bit distracted today. Make sure it doesn't happen next time. If there was a real raid, you would need to have your mind clear and ready to fight."

"Yes sir," Hakoda said quietly and bowed, watching the back of his master leave as he went to talk to the other fighters he had fought against.

Bato looked at him curiously, a sly smile on his face. "Distracted huh?" He chuckled.

Hakoda glared at him, "About you cutting my hair."

Bato laughed fully now, tucking his sword into its hilt. "Sure sure, whatever!"

Hakoda was just about to give him a piece of his mind when he heard the quick footsteps of people surround him. Bato's laugh grew stronger.

When Hakoda turned around, he was face to face with a group of five young females, their faces bright and full of smiles. They were incredibly close to him, and he backed up a foot.

"Err.." he mumbled awkwardly, "H-hello ladies."

They giggled, their dainty hands cover in fancy gloves covering their mouths.

Leyna spoke up first, being that she composed herself quickly. "Hello Hakoda, you did a wonderful job at your training session today."

Hakoda gulped nervously, then recovered and grinned back at her. "Thanks, glad you girls decided to show up and watch."

Another girl, Mako, shyly spoke up. "W-well we wanted to cheer you on since your test is only a week away." She glanced shyly at Bato, who was too busy sitting on the snow now laughing his head off.

Hakoda glared at him, but of course he ignored him.

Turning back to the ladies, he smiled. He heard them intake a sharp breath quickly and giggle once again. He groaned inwardly to himself, but kept a handsome smile plastered on his face.

Girls flocked to him like snow flies to an open flame. With his good looks, and great fighting skills, he was the most popular on the training squad. Now nineteen, he was told he needed to think about marriage. He just couldn't find the right girl.

When it came to girls, his thoughts swirled and he stumbled over his tongue, unless he knew them really well, then he could talk to them like a normal person.

He was destined to become the leader of the southern water tribe, and with that came all the women wanting to have his attention. In dire need to get away some times, he would wander off to the secret cave him, Bato and a few other guys had created during their childhood, where they could come and think, or practice. Most of the time lately, it had been to get away from the women that attempted to fight over his attention and his alone. Sure, he liked the attention, but it was getting a _bit_ out of hand.

Now still smiling awkwardly at the girls, he was trying to think of a solution to get out of this. He looked at Bato, who had now settled down on a snow pile, his fur hood pulled over his face, so all you could see was his sly grin on his face.

Hakoda imagined shoving his friends face in the snow, but was interrupted when Leyna spoke up again, being the bold one of the group today.

"You must be hungry after all that training Hakoda. Would you like to come over for lunch?"

Hakoda's face softened. "Sure," he said, grinning boyishly.

A blush tinged her face, and she backed away from the group beckoning him after her. He squeezed through the group of disappointed girls and followed her, walked by her side, at the same pace as her.

The silence was awkward, but they soon reached her house. He stepped aside so that she could enter first, as he was about to pull the flap away for himself, he heard a loud thump to his left and stepped back.

There was struggling behind the house and Hakoda left to investigate, checking the front flap of the house, to make sure that Leyna wasn't coming back out.

He quickly escaped to the back side of the house where he found a girl half buried in snow. Her hood had gotten knocked off, and snow was scattered all over her. With the majority of her lower body covered, she was struggling and muttering to herself, as she brushed as much as the snow away as possible.

Hakoda, surprised at the sight, looked up to where the snow had fallen off the roof. From the scene of it, the girl had been outside collecting some water for the pot for dinner, which was knocked over, snow spilled on the ground. He held in a small laugh at the irony and sight of the young girl struggling.

He cleared his throat, and the girl stopped, and whipped her head up. Her bright blue eyes, the color of the bluest bead he had ever seen, bore into his in surprise. His eyes widened at the beauty of the young girl in front of him, her small, half opened lips, staring at him.

Suddenly, it felt as if his heart was constricting, and all the air he had left in him had vanished.

She finally went back to work, trying to scoop out snow in piles off of her body. Finally realizing his rudeness by just standing there and staring, he quickly sunk to his knees and helped plow some snow away from her. When she was able to stand back up, he offered a shaky hand to her, desperately wanting to touch her.

Shaking the snow from her hair, and pulling her hood over her head again, she bent down to pick up the pot that she had been filling.

Awkwardly standing there, Hakoda shuffled his feet and kicked the snow. _Say something!_ He urged himself to speak.

"I-I'm Ha-Hadoka," he managed, his hand coming up to scratch the back of his head, nervously. _Great one Hadoka! Just wonderful, that went as smoothly as possible! NOT!_

She stopped and looked up at him carefully. "Ah, you're the one who will become the next tribe leader?" She didn't wait for him to answer, "I've heard about you," and she turned again to the pot, shoveling snow into it with a clean whale bone shovel, that was leaning against the house, "From the girls at school."

He was silent as she scooped more into the giant pot. _Think! Say something else! _His eyes were on her body, watching as she scooped up the snow, the way her body bent…He squeezed his eyes shut quickly. _What are you doing!?_

"Uh.." he started, "That's funny, 'cause I've never seen you before."

She squatted, picking up the large pot of snow.

She took a step and then stopped, staring at the white ground, her voice level, "That's because I am not of marrying age yet."

He gulped. _Really? _She looked at least seventeen.

He recovered himself, and walked up to her, "Here," he offered, "Let me help you with that."

A small smirk crossed her face momentarily, and then disappeared. She handed the heavy pot over to him and he took it with no trouble at all.

She gracefully held the back flap open for him, her face blank.

As he neared the door, he stopped and looked at her carefully. "So what's your name? Do you live here?"

She half laughed, as if mocking him. It was cold and rude, her words said as if the most obvious thing in the word. "Yeah, I'm Leyna's sister, Kya."

_Kya. That's a pretty name. _He felt the back of his neck heat up. _What in the world is wrong with me?_

She was about to go back in, when she looked at him carefully once again.

"Do you always keep a chunk of hair cut, and hanging in your eyes?" Her voice was sharp and playful for a moment, but became serious again.

Hakoda stared at her a moment and then realized what she was referring too. He groaned outwardly, and walked past her into the kitchen area where he saw Leyna's mother and Leyna herself. He then realized that he had forgotten all about Leyna and coming in with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Time: 12:53 PM on the coast of the west. Heh, Iroh is on my side.**

**Hmmm… I decided I shall make this one longer. I have some ideas (YEY for ideas!). Gotta love Hakoda and Kya. I wish we could have actually seen them when they were younger in the tv show. Oh well.**

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender. _

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After the awkward entrance into their home, Hakoda was quickly seated, saying that they would cook his lunch and he wouldn't have to worry about it. Leyna, Kya and their mother all busied themselves around the kitchen while Hakoda nervously sat at the kitchen table. He tried to make light conversation, but it was quite difficult when there was nothing to say. His eyes watched Leyna stir the soup, while Kya and their mother chopped some seasonings to put into the boiling water.

Leyna bent over to poke the fire beneath the giant pot he had brought in. She knew he was looking over that way, and decided to be a bit dangerous and show a bit of her girlish attractiveness.

What she didn't realize was that Hakoda was steadily watching Kya chop up the herbs. He watched her face, the silent, unemotional face that he couldn't pick up any hints up from. His attention then focused on her hands, gracefully moving at a speed he only used a sword with on the training field. His ears were ringing with his heartbeat.

Leyna stood back up, and looked slyly over at Hakoda, only to find that he his eyes were nowhere near her. She glared at him momentarily and then huffed, turning back to the pot and stirred it.

Kya gathered the chopped up stuff on a cloth and turned, walking over to the pot. Hakoda's eyes followed her as her back was to him and unconsciously watched the way she walked. He caught himself, turned his head and looked at the floor.

Putting the cloth back on the counter her mother and her were chopping on, Kya wiped her hands on her parka and sighed.

There was yelling outside and Kya quickly looked towards the front flap. Kids were laughing and Hakoda could hear boys rough housing around.

Kya smiled. Hakoda's heart beat quickly as he realized this was her true smile and she was finally showing it. Gulping, he swallowed the happy feeling that was growing in his stomach.

Kya turned towards her mother. "Can I go play with the guys outside until dinner?" Her eyes got wide, begging to be set free.

Her mother rolled her eyes and sighed, but smiled anyways. "Sure Kya, but if there is anymore rough housing tell Manu that I am going to talk to his mother about allowing you guys to hang out."

Kya grinned, "Don't worry about it mom, we're just being kids. I only have a little time left anyways." With that, she rushed out the flap where Hakoda heard her laugh and yell at the other teens.

Hakoda was silent. _What just happened?_

Leyna came up and sat across from him at the table, as did her mother. They offered him some tea and served him, trying to create some sort of conversation. Hakoda's mind was too full of other things to respond intelligently at the moment, but he somehow managed to keep up with their questions.

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Walking back to his house later, his hands shoved in his parka, and his sword hitting his leg as he walked. Coming out to the open area of snow beyond the inner walls, he stopped and watched the grey sky, the clouds running back and forth.

Somehow, being at that house had stressed him out and he just needed time to unwind.

The only problem was that his mind was so full of things that he couldn't think about just one thing. Taking in a deep breath, he turned back to town, passing several people and several of his training teammates.

He heard yelling again, and looked to his right where the play ground area was. It wasn't really a play ground, only an open flat area where kids could come together and mess around, make up their own games, or just chill with one another outside of school. Hakoda remembered his good ol' days there, and wished he could relax there again, not having to worry about finding a wife, training for the final exam to become chief, or even thinking about future raids on the village.

He watched the teenagers having a snowball attack. Some areas of the flat ground had been built up for forts of opposing sides. Hakoda got closer and leaned up against a column of a nearby house, crossing his arms and watching.

A good six boys were on one side, while there were five on the other. The had created their own catapults and were launching back and forth, while some of the more daring ones had crossed over and were getting close range fire.

Hakoda chuckled to himself as he watched one of the kids get pelted by an unseen thrower. _Oh, I guess that one side DOES have six people, one was just hiding. That is the smart guy._

The kid that got hit turned to his hidden attacker and lunged at the kid. There was the sound of a scuffle and the two came into view, pushing against each other. The kid that got hit was stronger and tackled the mystery teen. As they hit the ground, the hood of the mystery person fell off revealing the face of a teenage girl.

Hakoda stiffened. _Is that K-Kya?_ He took a few steps forwards.

Her face was angry as she fought against the boy who was on top of her. She reached up and grabbed his ponytail, while he in turn grabbed her long hair. Hakoda rushed forwards, his heart racing.

But suddenly, the two started laughing, sprawled out on the ground. He stopped at the gate suddenly, and watched in horror.

_They were just playing around._

Feeling his stomach sink, he backed up a few feet and watched, feeling stupid.

The guy got up and stuck out a hand for Kya. She grabbed it and got up with his help. Once up, she patted him on the shoulder and walked back to her side. Hakoda watched her with sadness, something he had been feeling quite too often lately.

He was about to turn away, but not before he saw the look in the boys eyes as he watched her walk back to her side. There was lust and want in his eyes, a sly smile plastered on his face, and finally turned around and headed to his side.

Hakoda breathed heavily out of his nose. _That little brat! How dare he?_

Feeling his hand reach for his sword he stopped himself. _What am I doing? She is obviously way younger than me. I have no right to interfere if she likes this boy. _He turned and kicked the snow, heading back to his house. _Plus, _he thought, _I've done the same thing in my youth before. _

Feeling the guilt that overcame him, he sighed heavily and blew the chunk of hair out of his eyes again.

* * *

Twisting to the left, he dodged the forceful blow that was meant for him. Pushing himself off the ground, he lunged at his attacker and grabbed the parka of the opponent and threw him to the ground. The guy grunted and swung his legs in a circular motion, clipping Hakoda's legs and toppling him to the ground. Hakoda fell on his elbow and gritted at the pain. _Come on Hakoda! Clear your mind!_

He reached for his sword that had fell from his hand and swung at the man that was getting up. Hitting him in the back of the knees, the man went down again. Hakoda jumped up stepping on the man's chest heavily. He wasn't in the mood to be nice today.

Once it was clear that he had won, he stepped off him friend's chest and turned away angrily. His fighting was off today and incredibly sloppy. _He shouldn't have even been able to knock me down, _he growled to himself.

Hitting his sword on the bottom of his boot, he succeeded in knocking off the snow and shoved it back into its hilt. Trying to calm his emotions, he looked around to make sure the group of girls wasn't coming towards him today. If they were, he was seriously going to run. He didn't care what they thought anymore. Let them think what they want.

He stood off in the distance watching as Bato was the next to spar against some others. Next to him, Bato was the second best fighter. When Hakoda became chief, he would make Bato his second in command, he decided. Together they were to be undefeatable.

Watching the training, his mood shifted to calmer waters. Something about the swift movements of different fighting styles and the ability to stand your ground was calming to him. Fighting was his nature, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

Sighing, he looked off in the distance at the city. Having the training ground on the outside of the village, he could see the tall buildings rise from inside the walled area. The entrance to the village was a giant arch made of ice that had been there from when there used to be waterbenders in the village.

Through the giant arch he saw a person walk and stop, looking out at the fighters.

The girl's hands were clasped together in front of her, as she watched.

Hakoda felt his heartbeat quicken. Even from this far away, he could tell her stance and form.

_Kya._

Daringly, he raised a hand and waved high above his head, friendly like. He tried hopelessly to stop a grin from spreading across his face, but was unsuccessful. He was quite happy all of a sudden.

From the way her head stopped, he could tell she was looking at him. She twisted her head around, looking behind her as if to see if he was waving to anyone else.

When she was satisfied that it was her that he was waving at, she raised a hesitant hand about her head level and waved back momentarily, as if she wasn't sure.

Hakoda's grin grew wider, but ultimately disappeared when he saw a tall teenage boy walk up behind her and shove her playfully, running off in the opposite direction.

Kya turned around in a whirlwind trying to find her attacker. Spotting his running form, she shouted something, raising a fist and shook it at him as she high tailed it after him.

His arms at his sides, Hakoda's heart deflated, and he shifted his eyes to the ground. Humiliation filled him, and some strange feeling filled his stomach as he thought about her running after the teenager.

He remembered something his father had told him years ago. _It's time you decided to grow up Hakoda, and it's going to hurt. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Time: 4:51 PM **

**Here I am again. Blah blah blah. I really don't know what to say anymore. I can't think of anything witty to say. I think it is because AP tests are this week and I KNOW I SHOULD be studying, but instead here I am writing about Hakdoa and Kya. But there isn't anything wrong with that is there? Haha… well. Enjoy this. **

**Diclaimer: **_I do not, and never will, own Avatar; the last airbender. Mark my words… I will someday though!_

A week and two days left. A week and two day until his test. The ball of nerves that was to form by that time had started now.

Everyday to come her knew he would start by facing his opponent with nervousness. What he didn't know was whether of not that nervousness would disappear or not once the fight started.

Hakoda swallowed the lump in his throat, his grip tightening on his water tribe sword. The opponent across from him glared deep into Hakoda's soul. Caelan, tall, aggressive, intimidating Caelan was Hakoda's superior by a couple of years. Having grown up with Caelan, Hakoda had learned numerous things from him in the means of fighting. When Hakoda started to surpass him, well…. That hadn't gone well with Caelan. And now that Hakoda was destined to be the new leader, there were some hard feelings that came between his old friend and him now.

Caelan stood his ground. That was his tactic, and Hakoda had usually used that tactic. But, knowing that his opponent was stubborn and would not strike until Hakoda did, he decided to do just that.

Hakoda lunged towards him, striking towards Caelan's upper left shoulder. Caelan blocked it and twisted to the right, bringing his leg up in the air for a strike. Hakoda noticed this and jumped instinctively. Barely making it above Caelan's foot, he unleashed his attack on Caelan's right side. His weaker point.

His sword scraped against Caelan's parka, slicing it open, but never hitting the skin. Caelan glared at him, swinging his sword dangerously close now. Hakoda backed up, and knew he would get points taken off for backing up. It showed weakness.

Thinking quickly, Hakoda ducked, and dropped almost to one knee. From there, he quickly lunged at his opponents legs. Tackling him, their swords went flying. Caelan threw Hakoda off, and scrambled for his sword. But Hakoda was quicker and kicked him away, all the while snatching up his own. He kneeled down, and in one swift motion, had Caelan's head pulled up by his hair, and the sword placed precisely under his chin.

The stayed like this for a few moments, until Caelan snorted, signaling that he got that idea and that he had lost. In this, Hakoda pulled the sword away, let go of Caelan's head and stood up.

Now that it was over, his nervousness came back. If he continued this, he would have plenty of enemies if he became chief.

He sighed to himself and walked off the training grounds, over to where Bato was sitting on a lump of snow.

"Being lazy as ever I see," Hakoda remarked, and sat down on the ground next to him

Bato opened one of his sleeping eyes. "What are you talking about? If I am asleep, the girls don't bother me." He looked slyly at Hakoda, "You should try it sometime."

Hakoda scratched his head. "Maybe." He sighed. That was exactly what he wanted to talk about to Bato at this moment. But he wasn't so sure on how to bring up the subject. _I'm running out of time,_ he thought, _in no time at all, I have to get married. Well… only if I become chief, and I have to pass the test before that. But if I do get the position, and am forced to find a girl before I meet the right one, what if I choose…. The wrong one? I don't want to do that!_

Hakoda groaned and slumped his shoulders, putting his face in his hands angrily. Bato opened both eyes now and looked at him curiously, trying to figure out what in the world was going through his friends head.

Bato finally rolled his eyes, and shook his head. His eyes looked out at the trainers now, and grazed towards the entrance of the village. His eyes went wide. _Crap!_

"Hey Hakoda!," He was whispering quickly, and kicked his friend that was sitting near his foot, "You probably want to see this."

Hakoda looked up and his body went stiff. "Aw crap! I gotta get out of here!" He scrambled to his feet, and looked around him, looking for an escape route from the group of females that were headed his way. "Buy me time would you?"

He didn't wait for Bato to answer, and instead booked it behind a giant snow bank, breathing heavily, from the snow sinking under his feet. He heard the girls approaching and decided to get around the giant mountain of snow and sneak in the front entrance behind their backs. It was rude and mean of him, but he really just didn't want to deal with them at this time.

He heard them say something to Bato, and he knew that he would have to book it towards the entrance. He held his sword close to his side, for if he didn't it would hit his legs as he ran.

He sprinted towards the entrance and hid behind the wall once he got inside, breathing heavily from sprinting. Leaning his body weight against the wall, he sunk to the ground and sat there. _Am I going to have to do this every day? Not if I want to find a wife._

Closing his eyes and trying to calm his breathing, he looked up at the village people as they went about their daily lives among the streets. He watched the kids running around and older women gathering food in baskets from the market area at the back of the enclosed village.

He saw someone carrying a large basket and his heartbeat picked up. _What a coincidence to see her at this time!_

He stumbled to his feet and ran after her, his sword hitting his legs.

"K-Kya!" he said loudly, causing her to stop and turn. As he caught up with her, she looked at him carefully.

"Hello Hakoda," she said flatly, eyeing him, trying to figure out why he was here.

"H-Hey," he breathed, catching his breath, and stumbling on his words. He eyed her basket and looked at her cobalt blue eyes, "Are you going to the market?"

"Yeah," she said bluntly. She started walking again, and left him behind. His long legs carried him to her side once again.

"Here, let me carry that for you," he offered, trying to find something to say.

"I can do it myself. Thank you though."

Hakoda rolled his eyes, trying to calm his shaking heart. "Don't be stubborn, just hand it over."

She stopped and looked up at him, staring at him intently. "Why?" she asked.

He avoided her sharp eyes, "I ju-just want to help, that's all." His heart was running a million miles an hour. _Shut up you stupid heart!_

He smiled at her nervously, hoping she wouldn't catch it.

She raised an eyebrow from under her parka. She smiled suddenly, almost a mocking smirk. "Okay, fine. Thanks." She handed over the large basket to Hakoda where he grappled it for a second and then got it comfortably into his arms.

She started walking again, her hands clasped behind her back. She smiled warmly ahead of her, and kept her feet going.

Hakoda didn't know what to say at this point. Things were running through his mind now as he walked next to her. _I can't believe I am actually carrying her basket and helping her! I can't believe she LET me!_ He felt his pride swell for a moment, but caught himself as they neared the market.

They came to the stands, which were few, but full of fish and other delicacies. She grabbed some food and herbs that were found in the snow banks a good half an hour from here. The market person wrapped them up, and handed them to her, where she turned towards a flustered Hakoda and placed them in the basket he was carrying. Kya turned to the next stand.

The last merchant eyeballed Hakoda, raising his eyebrows. Hakoda smiled nervously and shrugged his shoulders hoping they would leave it at that.

He looked over to where Kya was and walked towards her, slowly as she was talking to the merchant. Hakoda noticed that it had started snowing, the large, heavy flakes drifting slowly towards the ground. His face turned up towards the sky, letting them hit his face and stick to his hood.

"Hakoda," she said softly, but to him it was the only sound around. Everything else had fallen silent as she had said his name, and it took him a moment to figure out that it was _her_ that had said it.

"Huh?" he asked smoothly, looking over in her direction and then realizing what a fool he was, felt the heat rise up on his face.

Kya was holding a large handful of furs and an annoyed look on her face. He walked over to her and set down the basket, helping her put them in. When they were all in, she turned to pay the merchant as Hakoda picked the basket back up.

"Anything else?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even in her presence. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes at her, and thought attractively. _She's got snow petals on her face. _

She giggled to herself, completely out of character. He looked at her, his mouth open. _Did she just giggle?_

"No," she mused to herself, "Do you want to help me carry it home?"

_Was she kidding!? Of course!_ He swallowed, keeping his excitement inside. He managed to smile handsomely at her, where her face went blank again, putting up her shield and she started walking towards her house. He followed, having to take half the steps she took, due to his long legs. But his insides were going berserk, from being this happy and being this near her.

When they reached her house she turned towards him, smiling softly again, causing the back of his neck to heat up. But he kept himself steady, making his brain obey his command. Her eyes didn't meet his, but there was a faint blush on her cheeks. Or was he imagining that?

He didn't have time to think because he heard Leyna's voice come from inside as she talked to their mother. Hakoda's eyes went wide, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Kya noticed this and started laughing to herself. Her voice melted into the air, curling around his head and wrapping around his heart. He looked at her with such a pained expression on his face. He knew that he couldn't just scoop her up and hug her due to the fact that they had met, like, four days ago and that apparently she wasn't even of marrying age. But when he heard her tinkling laugh sweep around him, it was incredibly hard not to instinctively love it. He gritted his teeth, trying to keep his mind under control.

She broke his trance and grabbed for the basket. "Here, I can take that for… obvious reasons." Again she laughed softly. Hakoda forced himself to smile back at her boyishly.

She turned towards the flap and stopped, looking back at his rooted form in the ground. "Thanks," she said, then bit her lip nervously and entered the flap, disappearing once again.

Hakoda stood, his mouth slightly open and eyes glued on the spot where she had left. _Did she just thank me? _He forced himself to move his lead weighing feet and trudged home. _She thanked me. And it wasn't forced. _As he got home and sat down on his bed, putting his arms behind his head, he replayed the day through his mind. _Maybe I DO have a chance with love after all. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Time: 6:04 PM. **

**Hope you guys like this one…. Kind of filler. Kinda long also. Oh well, bear with me. **

**And just because I love saying it. YES! Go young Hakoda! Go get her!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar; the last airbender. Blah blah blah….. yey young Hakoda!**

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**

The next morning, Hakoda walked silently past the open playing area where the kids played when they were done with their chores. This was the same place he had walked by the day he saw Kya playing with the other boys.

Hakoda's mind was blank as he walked through the opening into the bare space. Stopping his steps, he stood a good ten feet inside the inner wall. Memories suddenly flooded back into this mind and he closed his eyes, remembering. He saw himself wrestling with older guys, and pretend fighting with sticks they had found when their fathers would take them up north once a year to where there were trees and actual sticks to hit each other with.

He breathed in a forceful breath of air and heard the sounds of him and his friends yelling and laughing as someone got hit smack dab in the stomach with a snowball, only to be tackled by the opponent.

He stood in the place where he had spent his childhood for minutes on end. Until finally, he remembered most of the things that he _wanted_ to.

His eyes still closed, he tilted his head up towards the sky, feeling the wind blow his small pony tail back, and the short chunk of hair that Bato had cut, blew barely to his ear, tickling it.

He opened his eyes to the never ending grey clouds above him. _What I would do right now to go back to those care-free days. _

Something caught his attention. Some kids were approaching. He had better get out of here, or else answer their never-ending questions on why he would be here and not training.

Training.

Hakoda breathed heavily out of his nose, his grip tightening on his sword, the one that he had never remembered to fasten to his hip. _Dang! _

He turned sharply, sprinting out of the playground area, streaming past a group of kids. He looked quickly at them, turning his head as he ran past. He did recognize one kid however as he ran. It was the one that had tackled Kya the day he had been watching. Running sideways now, he slowed his pace a bit. The kid realized that he was being watched and his eyes turned up towards Hakoda's. The eyes of a young sixteen year old stared back at him carefully.

Hakoda shook his head to clear his thoughts. _Never mind. Just what was I planning to do anyways?_ He turned his body fully towards the direction he was headed, and sprinted with all his might.

He knew he had gotten side tracked and now he was hopelessly late. Punishment would not be kind from his trainer, especially since he was supposed to be a role model for the other people, being the destined next leader and all.

The ball of nervousness started winding itself back up in his stomach. Today was going to be wonderful.

* * *

Hakoda sat by himself, glowering with all the weapons splayed around him. He mumbled something unintelligent to himself, and picked up another training sword that was used for the younger age groups. His punishment was just about over now, as soon as he finished cleaning and polishing the younger teens training swords.

His master had not been happy with his appearance as Hakoda had shown up, breathing heavily from running so hard and not ready with his sword tied on, ready for battle.

Instead of training, Hakoda had to run up to the eastern base about five miles along the ocean water. Every three or four months, two men would switch places with each other and keep lookout in both eastern and western watch towers. He had to run to see how the two men there were doing, and make sure they didn't need supplies or anything.

Hakoda ran in long strides, taking his breathing easily, trying to pace himself for the next round he would have to face. Once he got to the watch tower, he met the two men from camp, and talked to them for five minutes at the most.

At the sign of his approach, they came out to make sure it was someone from the village and then welcomed him.

One of the men, Flean, looked at him, a grin on his face. "Let me guess," He said slyly, "Late for training."

Hakoda, calmed his breathing from the long run, and nodded his head.

The two watch men looked at each other and laughed. "Yeah, we remember those times!" He chuckled, "The best of luck to you Hakoda!"

Luckily, they didn't need any supplies, just wanted Hakoda to send their wives and families letters, which they quickly wrote and handed to him. He stuffed them in his parka, and began his long run back to the training ground. When he reached there, he gave the letters to the master to deliver and was about to join the group, when his trainer shook his head and pointed in the western direction.

Hakoda looked at him like he was crazy. His mouth dropped, and he looked at all the other trainees. Bato started laughing at him, and the others joined in. _No way! _He thought, _ Now I gotta run to the western tower?_

Hakoda set his jaw and started running again, his mind roaring with anger and frustration.

Five miles later, he reached the other tower, and was welcomed with the same question as the other men had given him. He mumbled a frustrated response, leaning his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

To his surprise, he found that this tower needed supplies, unlike the other one. They gave him a list, and he stuffed it into his parka, and headed the final five miles, his body tired from running for so long. As he neared the training ground, he found that training was over, and he grew even angrier, his thoughts swirling around and around. As he neared camp, his legs were weak and wobbly. Once he tripped, but caught himself and continued the run to where his trainer was waiting for him.

He gave the trainer the list and waited once more for his dismissal.

"Hakoda," the trainer said, his voice deep and powerful, "You can probably imagine how disappointed I am in you."

Still trying to get a handle on his breathing, Hakoda stood up, his hands on his hips, trying to get a good deep breath.

"Y-yes sir," he managed, "I deeply regret my mistake."

The trainer eyed him carefully, and then nodded his head. "Your apology is accepted."

Hakoda couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that his punishment was over. All he wanted to do now was go home and go to sleep, even though it was only in actuality around noon. His body was protesting though, and sleep at this moment sounded absolutely, down right wonderful.

As he turned to go, his trainer cleared his throat.

Hakoda looked back at him, over his tired shoulder.

"Your punishment still isn't over yet."

Hakoda's eyes got wide in surprise. _There's still more!? Is he trying to kill me?_

His master led him over to a pile of blades and water tribe swords that he had obviously pulled out from storage. Hakoda stared at them in disgust.

"You will need to clean these," his master said, his voice even and serious. Apparently it the younger sessions were going to be starting training, and their equipment needed to be cleaned up and properly provided for to make sure of the utmost safety.

A groan was creeping up his throat, but he swallowed the pride he held and held his stance.

His master finished by telling him to place them back in his training tent when he was done, and then his punishment would be over.

As Hakoda sat down, picking up a small sword and examining it, the trainer took a few steps and then stopped. "Remember," he said, never turning or looking over his shoulder, "I expect nothing less than excellent from the next to-be tribe leader." And with that, his master walked his final steps away, leaving Hakoda to sit in the snow, his heart heavy and full of guilt.

* * *

Now on his last sword, he held it tight, making sure that it didn't slip from his tired hand. He had cleaned and polished it.

"These kids better appreciate my work," he grumbled, and finished the sword. Standing up, he stretched, feeling his muscles groan and protest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure approaching. His heart started to beat as he noticed the figure of a girl, but ultimately died down as he saw it wasn't the one that he had so hoped would show up. Instead, it was her sister.

She held her hands behind her back, as she approached, a shy smile caressing her lips.

She approached him carefully, her eyes bright. He smiled friendly, but didn't say anything.

He bent down and started gathering swords and putting them in a whale bone fashioned crate. She squatted down next to him and helped gather some as well. In no time at all, all the newly polished swords were gathered and he was soon carrying them to the master's training tent. Closing the flap and tying it tight, so no snow would be able to get in, he turned, finally satisfied, and knowing his punishment was finally finished.

Leyna looked up at him beautifully, smiling. "I heard about your punishment from Bato."

Hakoda sighed, "Yeah, he seems to have a way with keeping his mouth shut."

She laughed, her pretty little laugh tinkling in the air. But it did nothing for his heart. He just smiled at her out of need, and well… he was kind of glad for the company at the moment. He had no one to talk to for an hour and a half.

"When I heard about that, I figured you must be tired, and hungry."

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Then he realized that in girl language, he was probably giving her a signal that he was interested in being with her, or liking her company. He quickly made his face go blank.

"More than you can imagine," he mumbled, and awkwardly put his hand on the hilt of his sword. _Hurry up, what is she getting at? I wanna go home and sleep._ He quickly kicked himself at being such an awful person and thinking those things.

"Well," she started, kind of kicking the snow around her feet, "I was kind of wondering if you would like to come over for lunch and have something to eat. I made some early, hoping you would. You deserve it." She looked up at him, her eyes shining and hopeful. They were a pale baby blue, so washed out, the color a rare flower that bloomed up north once a year. Every year her father would go and pick them for her, especially for her birthday. But they stood nothing to Kya's. Hakoda stopped his thoughts. _Why am I thinking such things. I can not compare her sister to her. That is downright awful and disrespectful. _

He tightly closed his eyes and punished himself. Then, quickly opening them again, he smiled handsomely at her, answering her question. "Sure, I would love to."

* * *

Hakoda entered through their house flap, after holding it open for Leyna.

The smell of cooked seal filled his nose and settled in his stomach, automatically setting off an alarm in his stomach and heard it grumble in happiness. Leyna looked back at him giggling, and he gave her a sheepish grin.

She walked ahead and set a place for him at the table. Her father was sitting at the table, already eating happily, while listening to his wife talk about something that she had heard from the market that day.

Hakoda grinned at Nakoh, Leyna's father, as he sat down.

Nakoh raised his eyebrows. "You look tired son," he stated, smiling fatherly at him.

Hakoda didn't know what to say. He just smiled tiredly, and stretched his legs. "That's what happens when I am caught reminiscing in old times."

Nakoh laughed a genuine laugh. "Of course, of course! I had my share of those times indeed! Well, it can only get better after these next couple of weeks are over with. I offer you my hope and strength that you get the position you want."

Hakoda felt his heart swell with love for the older man. "Thank you," he said directly from his heart, "It means a lot to know that there are people cheering for me."

Leyna brought a plate of cooked seal up for her and him, placing them on the table.

"I don't see why any one would be against you being the next leader."

"Well…" Hakoda thought out loud, "I guess it is just a matter of whether you think your son deserves it more or not. But…" he smiled thoughtfully, "I won't let those worry me. I plan on doing the best I can, whether or not I get the position."

From the other room, Kya walked, wearing her regular clothes, gorgeous blues and radiant purples. Hakoda looked at her in surprise, then felt his heart start to pulse again. He had never seen her without her parka, and he had to admit she was even lovelier that with it.

Kya was brushing her hair as she turned around the corner. She stopped as her eyes landed on the guest at the table. Her eyes went wide at the handsomely smiling Hakoda, and she froze in mid brush. She was completely caught off guard at seeing him in her house, and nothing less that eating with her family. A small blush, not seen by the onlookers, brushed across her face. Then seeing Leyna looking at Hakoda with loving eyes, Kya's face went blank and she turned back around, stalking into her room.

Hakoda looked in curiosity at her father, and he just shrugged his shoulders and looked at his wife. She was too busy in the kitchen to notice his look. He brushed it off and started eating his food again.

But Hakoda couldn't let it go. She had actually looked at him! Yet, she still turned away. He knew that when he smiled, he could get most girls to smile shyly back at him. But why… why was she immune to it? He was becoming frustrated with all of this, and wished he could just get her alone and talk to her one on one, like yesterday.

He was pondering this when Kya came back out of her room, parka on, and fur boots strapped on.

Hakoda felt his sense of happiness come back and he looked at her in hope that she would join them at the table. He smiled at her sheepishly, all of his confidence gone. Her sharp blue eyes met his, and held them for a moment. She then turned towards her father.

"I'm going out to see if Manu can play," were her only words.

"You don't want any lunch Kya?" Her mother asked questionly.

"Not hungry," she said, and with that, she turned and went out the front flap.

When she was gone, their mother looked at Nakoh. He was staring at the flap, thinking. Then he shook his head, and looked at his wife. "She probably is just trying to get all of her last minutes in before her birthday, because she knows that she won't be able to play as much as she becomes a woman."

"Wait," Hakoda interjected. All eyes turned to him, and he became flustered, punishing himself for sounding like he was so interested.

"W-when is her birthday?" He asked, looking down at the plate of cooked seal he hadn't touched yet.

Leyna answered him, "In three days," she said, looking at him curiously, "did you not know?"

He smiled nervously at her, "No, I didn't. I knew that it was someone's because my mother has already begun making preparations for someone's sixteenth birthday, bit I had no idea it was hers."

Nakoh sighed, "She isn't too thrilled about it," he said. "She would much rather be playing around with the guys and running around than being a girl."

"Which I can't understand," Leyna said, carefully choosing her words and looking at Hakoda out of the corner of her eyes, "Because that means that she can finally get married and have a family; something that every little girl dreams of and prepares her whole life for."

Hakoda had finally decided to eat some food, but as he took his first bite is when Leyna had decided to say those words. He choked on the meat, and Nakoh reached over pounding on his back. He knew Leyna was directing those words at him, and he panicked, making his throat constrict.

When he was under control of his breathing, he swallowed and shook his head at the burning feeling in his throat.

"So, Hakoda," Nakoh said, just as his wife was sitting down with her portion, "Are you planning on coming to my daughter's birthday? I am trying to plan something for her, so that she feels a little better about coming into adulthood."

Hakoda looked at his food. He might even be able to get her away for a few minutes and talk to her. Actually, there was no way anyone could keep him from the party.

He looked up mischievously, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."


	5. Chapter 5

**Time: 5:33 PM. Here ya go! **

**Lalaalalala…. I don't know what to say…. I should probably be working on my other one with Aang and Katara in it…. But….. hmmm…**

**Well…. Since I have been saying this every time, I don't want to end the record.**

**Yey! Young Hakoda! Hope you guys like this one. **

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Avatar: the last airbender. Nor do I own Hakoda or Kya. Poop._

_

* * *

_

Hakoda exited from the flap of his home, and threw a side glance in his parent's direction. When every man turned eighteen, it was customary that they move out into their own home, although most guys basically moved next door, until they were married. It gave a little freedom, which Hakoda was thankful for, but it barely made any difference; he rarely noticed that they were separated. That's the village for you; family is extremely important.

Hakoda stretched, breathing in the early morning air. It was clean and crisp, clearing out his muddled mind and heart. _Hmmm… _he thought, _Two more days until her birthday. _

He shook the thought from his head, and started walking towards the training ground. He was not going to be late today! Not ever again! His body was incredibly sore after yesterday's punishment.

He picked his feet up and started heading in the direction he always went in the morning. He needed to focus and do well in the week and two days he had left.

* * *

His sword was pushed up against Caelan's again. Today he and Bato were paired against Caelan and a younger guy whose name often escaped Hakoda.

Caelan immediately sought him out and basically told everyone that he would take on Hakoda again. Hakoda swallowed the lump in his throat and took his fighting stance. Caelan did not look happy at all that day, and Hakoda could only hope his intentions were not to kill him.

Now, Bato was fighting the other guy, and winning, and Hakoda was left with Caelan, their swords pushed up against each other, pressing equal pressure on either side. His muscles were tired and screaming out to stop and give up. Hakoda refused, and ground his teeth.  
He mustered all his strength and pushed harder against the opposite sword. Caelan's didn't budge, didn't even move. Hakoda was growing frustrated with himself, and decided to try something dangerous to stop this stalemate. His eyes flashing, he looked around him, and to his feet to see where Caelan's footing was. To his advantage Caelan was off by a few inches in his stance.

An evil grin spread across Hakoda's face. Suddenly, he released his pressure on his sword and all in once motion, ducked low to the ground. Caelan swung his sword at his low form, but wasn't quick enough as Hakoda moved quickly around his back, making Caelan whirl around in frustration, his sword flashing dangerously close to Hakoda's hair.

Hakoda dodged it, and then spun around from the side he had come from. For half a second, their backs were facing each other. As Caelan started to turn his body angrily towards him, Hakoda moved all of his force into his leg and kicked it as hard as he could up and turned as fast as he could, coming to meet his opponent. The side of his foot rammed roughly into Caelan's right shoulder, sending a shock through his leg. Caelan lost his balance, and one foot stumbled as he tried to compose his footing. Hakoda used this time and Caelan's footing mistake to deliver the final blow to Caelan's chest with his foot.

Caelan fell in slow motion, his sword slipping from his grip as he tried to cushion his fall. Hakoda grabbed his falling friends arm tightly, almost yanking his arm out of socket.

Never hitting the ground, Caelan looked up at him in surprise and using Hakoda's leverage, was able to stand back up in now time.

The bowed thoughtfully to each other and the other trainees clapped softly. Hakoda and Bato had won both their battles.

Hakoda looked over at his friend and grinned mischievously. Bato waved him off, yawning and walking to his snow pile, in which Hakoda remarked was a permanent seat made into it because he sat there so often. Hakoda walked after him, finding his own pile of snow and lying down as well. He wasn't ready to go back home yet, where he would no doubt have to help with some sort of repair of a home or wall around the village.

He pulled his parka over his head and smiled to himself. He was silently watching the others spar out in the ring for a few minutes when Bato, a few feet away spoke groggily.

"You might want to actually go to sleep," he warned.

Hakoda looked over at him, confused. Bato's eyes were closed, as usual, and the parka pulled down over his eyes.

_What was he talking about?_ Hakoda wondered. Without moving his head, his eyes looked back at the trainees, and towards the village entrance. He gulped suddenly, panicking. Leyna and two of her friends were standing under the entrance arch, looking around. No doubt for him.

He quickly pulled his parka over his eyes, and squeezed his eyes shut.

Bato was softly chuckling from beside him.

"Shut up!" Hakoda hissed, trying to calm his breathing. _It's okay Hakoda, just pretend you are asleep and don't let them see you are bluffing. That's all you have to do!_

Hearing footsteps approach him, he breathed normally, continually wishing he would go away. He heard the clash of swords in the background, and others cheering on whomever was fighting. Slowly, waiting for their footsteps to go away, he silently fell asleep on the snow pile, thinking to himself how great it would be to become chief.

* * *

He heard footsteps near him. Opening his eyes a sliver, he found himself on his side, arm under his head. _Did I actually fall asleep? _He opened his eyes a little more and found that the snow pile Bato had been sleeping in earlier, was now empty.

_How long was I asleep? _

His ears tuned in to the light footsteps that had brought him out of his sleep mode. _Another visitor? Just wonderful. Can't people figure out that I don't want to be bothered? Yeesh. _He pretended to be asleep again, this time making sure that it didn't actually happen. After a good five minutes he grew restless. The footsteps had stopped a few feet from him, and it sounded like the person had sat on the snow bank near him.

He sighed inwardly, and shifted slightly, just enough that he could look at whomever was sitting next to him. His throat constricted momentarily, but he swallowed to fix it.

Her parka was pulled over her head, so only her face was showing, and a few loose strands of hair peeked out from underneath. Her eyes were focused on the trainees that were still fighting. Hakoda's eyes glanced over there, seeing Bato sparring again. _He must be getting in extra practice, _he thought.

Apparently Kya hadn't noticed his shift, nor the fact that he was now staring at her face in affection. Nervousness started churning in his stomach again, and closed his eyes, willing the nervousness to die down.

Opening his eyes, he stared at her again. Her beautiful bright, blue eyes were dancing as she watched Bato and his opponent fight. Hakoda heard the sound of swords clash and her lip twitched in anticipation. Hakoda smiled momentarily, still infatuated with her presence being so near.

A few minutes passed, as he waited for her to look his direction. She had to some time. The moment that did happen, she glanced over out of the corner of her eyes, then looked back. Suddenly realizing that he was laying there, looking at her with a sly grin on his face, she did a double take. Her entire face turned towards him, her eyes getting wide, her mouth parting slightly. Completely flustered, she hastily got up ready to race out of there.

"Good day to you too," Hakoda said, before he realized the words had come out of his mouth. _Where did those words come from? _He wondered.

She stopped, her body going stiff, back turned to him. "S-sorry," she forced out, "I shouldn't have bothered you."

He looked at her back curiously, "You weren't intruding. At least I don't think so."

She was silent for a moment.

"I really should be going."

He sighed heavily, "Kya, just get back here."

She turned towards him, her face flushed slightly. Her jaw was set in a stubborn stance, but he could see her relief show through like the moon at night.

He felt his heart flutter as she sat back down next to him. A few awkward moments passed as she fixed her eyes back on the fighters. Bato and his opponent had finished, and now a new set was going.

"So…" Hakoda asked, racking his brain for something to say, "You like watching the fighters?"

She snickered to herself, "I guess that would be a reasonable answer to why I am here." She paused, then added kindly, "Yes, I do. I come her every chance I can, when I am not helping mother or my friends are too busy to play."

_She likes watching the fighters? Interesting. _Hakoda vaguely wondered if she had ever seen him fight before. He felt the back of his neck heat up, glad that he rarely ever lost, due to his hard practice and difficult training.

He pointed out to the fighters, and as they fought, he would explain each ones mistake and how he should have fixed it. She listened intently and eagerly, becoming absorbed in the clash of the swords and the unique fighting styles each one used.

When her face was on the fighters, his eyes glanced over at her, feeling his heart swelled up with feelings he wasn't quite understanding.

She looked over at him momentarily, her eyes drifting to his side. "Is that your sword?" She asked, her voice hopeful.

His ears perked up, and a boyish grin spread across his face. He un-attached it from its hilt and held it out to her, "Yeah, you want to see it?" She smiled brightly, making his heart beat faster than it already was. She took the sword and ran her hands over the blade, touching its smooth features and jagged end. _She is just too adorable! _His mind was laughing. He forced himself to turn away and focus on other things.

Snow started falling from the sky, lightly twirling around the fighters he had forced his eyes to be glued to.

He looked out over the mountains of snow in the distance, far beyond the training grounds. His thoughts turned towards his test in a little over a week from now.

Her heard her voice again, and whipped his head to look at her. His eyes came into view a few inches from a blade that was being held near his face. He looked down at the blade surprisingly, his heart hammering. _Whew, that was close!_

She sheepishly pulled it away, finding that she had almost skewered him. "S-sorry!" she sputtered, "I was trying to tell you something, but you weren't listening. I was going to poke your face lightly to get your attention."

He blinked and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, you have my attention now, what were you telling me?"

She looked at him, her cobalt blue eyes unblinking. "You have snow petals on your face."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

She pointed to her face, "Snow petals. On your face."

He blinked in response. _Snow petals? Oh! Snow! She called them that too!_

He grinned and reached up to brush his face. He then proceeded to stand up, stretching his sore muscles. He held out his hand for his sword, which she handed over and he attached back to his hip.

He then held out his hand to her. She stared at it like it was going to eat her. "What are you doing?" Her voice was flat and uninterested.

He chuckled, his mood completely unchanged. "Come on, I want to show you something."

She eyed him carefully, then sighed and grabbed his hand. He pulled her up, making sure not to loose his shaking grip from actually touching her. _Her hand. Her hand is so small. How can she have such tiny hands?_

Shaking the thought from his mind, he continued to pull her along, behind the snow pile, and beyond throughout the snow.

"Hey Hakoda!" She said loudly, "Where are we going?"

"Shhhh," he said, "I just want to show you my hide out."

She laughed then, "A hide out? Like a fort?"

He looked back at her, still holding her hand, "Yeah, exactly like that."

She was silent, and he knew that he had captured her attention with its "mysteriousness." She then smiled, "I would love to see it."

He smiled handsomely at her, and continued his journey again.

Around five minutes later, he pulled her up a large snow bank and built up the bank was a large, house sized fort. She looked at in awe. "Did you build this?" she asked, letting go of his hand and walking ahead of him.

"Yeah," he said, looking at her, "A couple of my buddies and I built it when we were sixteen."

She stopped outside the door, turned towards him and eyed him. "Am I allowed to go inside? I know how guys are with letting girl cooties in."

Hakoda laughed, walking up to the door and opening it for her, letting her pass through first.

When they got inside, she found a couple of cots, a sleeping bag and a cooking area, with a giant pot and a fire pit. There were also a few fur rugs, but she didn't take notice.

"Is someone living here?"

Hakoda reached up and threw off his hood, sending snow everywhere. "Yeah… well, sort of. When I need time alone or need to get away for a few days, this is where I come." He pointed to the cot with the sleeping bag. "That's mine, since I recently came up here."

She turned and looked at him, "Why do you need to get away? Is there something wrong?"

He looked at the floor and smiled sadly, then drew them back upwards, looking her straight in the eye. "Becoming an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Her eyes widened. He knew she was feeling the same thing, and she smiled softly at him. "It's about your test isn't it?"

He smiled a half smile and felt the cold wind from the open front door blow through. He turned and started walking out the door, beckoning her to follow.

"Here," he said, his hand on the door to close it, "We should probably get back now."

She just stood inside, looking at him, her eyes sad. His heart constricted at the sight. He had never seen this look on her face before, and it was tearing his heart to pieces. After a moments stare, she put her head down and walked out after him, where he closed the door behind her, securing it tightly.

He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his parka, and started shuffling through the snow. She didn't follow.

"Hakoda," she said, causing him to stop in his path, his heartbeat in his ears.

"You don't have to be afraid," she said quietly, barely audible over the sound of the wind, "No one has beaten you yet. And no one will in the future. There's nothing to worry about."

He froze. She had seen him fight. He swallowed; his throat dry. Then reaching up, he put his hood back over his head and started walking once again.

The next thing he knew a hard shove came from behind him, causing him to stumble, his balance off. Before he could re-balance himself out, another shove hit him again and he toppled. Hitting the snow, his hood flew off and he spun around on the ground to face his attacker, instinct taking over. Kya was standing over him, her hands on her hips. "Don't you dare walk away from me when I am talking to you! Do you understand how rude that is!? That is one way to get on my bad side!"

Her eyes glared at him, and he stared at her blankly.

"Y-You pushed me over," he whispered to her.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "You were ignoring me."

He suddenly grinned quickly reaching up and gripping her arm tightly. With his other hand he scooped up a pile of snow. In one swift motion he pulled her down and shoving the snow in her face. She fell on top of him, shrieking from the cold ice hitting her face. She shook her head and looked straight into his eyes, snow still stuck to her face.

He brought his face closer, their noses almost touching.

"And you," he whispered playfully, "Should never try to attack the un-beatable."

She set her jaw, her eyes shining brightly, and pulled away, sweeping up a handful of snow in his direction. He felt the cold wall of frozen water hit his face, and sucked in a sharp breath. Then, a laugh bubbled up through his stomach and escaped through his mouth. He sat on the snow, laughing, and holding his stomach.

Kya looked at him strangely, from her position of sitting on his legs. Then she, too, started laughing, her girlish laugh singing along with the wind.

When his abdomen area couldn't take it anymore, he forced himself to calm down and chuckle lightly. Kya had moved off his legs and was staring at him, the darkest blush he had ever seen on her face, showing. He laughed again, got up, brushing the snow off and offering her a hand. She hesitated and then took it, allowing him to help her up.

As they started walking back, they were silent, awkwardness being the cause. After a few minutes of silence, he looked at her, continuing to walk.

"Thank you," he said softly, "I needed that."

She was staring straight ahead, but he saw a faint smile caress her lips. He turned back to the white snow path they were taking. A minute later, he felt the pressure of her small hands, hesitantly grab his. His heart stopped, but he held on tight, not wanting her to withdraw. She didn't. He felt the back of his neck flare up, but couldn't help it. _What was this feeling? _This feeling was completely new to him, but….. he kind of liked it. He liked her small little hand in his. He didn't want to let go. Not ever.


	6. Chapter 6

**Time: 3:51 PM Ahoy mateys! I just like saying that! I'm a captain of my own ship in my own world. **

**Haha… well here is the next installment. Hope you enjoy it. That Bato is a sly one.**

**YEY! Young Hakoda!**

**Disclaimer: **_I wish I owned Avatar; the last airbender._

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Hakoda was humming something to himself when he realized it. Waiting in line for his turn for training, he stopped and shook his head. _What is wrong with me?_

He nervously tapped his foot, that rippled up his leg, ultimately making the sword at his hip bounce and hit his thigh. _Stop Hakoda! _ He ordered himself. He knew he was completely out of it, but he was determined to make himself stop.

Today was Kya's sixteenth birthday party. Every time someone turned sixteen, the whole village had a huge celebration. Hakoda remembered his, but it wasn't as fancy. Basically dancing, and singing, but that was it. Girls were usually more into the parties than guys, therefore made a extremely huge deal about it when the time came.

But he was nervous for a different reason.

He had about a week left before the test. And there were some things he needed to get in order before that. Some decisions he needed to make.

Hakoda ground his teeth, trying to control the nervousness he had in the pit of his stomach, but they just wouldn't go away.

He hadn't seen Kya yesterday, and it made him wonder where she was. _Probably school. _He tilted his head, looking at the two partners that were sparring. _Maybe preparing for her party. _

There was so much energy spiraling through his body, that when it was finally his turn to spar his opponent, he was faced with three guys to his one form, he took them down in a matter of minutes. Bato had been one of the people he fought against, and he had been the harder one to take down. Now, tucking his water tribe sword back into its hilt, Hakoda felt like he had so much energy in him.

He politely bowed out of the group and went for a run. _Maybe I can drain the energy away by running. _

His body was soon overheating, and he had to discard the parka. He ran out to the west look-out- post, chatted with them for a while, and then ran back. He then came back, to find they were still training.

He could see the younger class start to line up. _Oh, that's right. The younger session of the year has started. _Hakoda grinned wickedly, why not show off a bit. He walked up to the older group, still in just a shirt with underclothing. He had too much energy to feel hot.

He pulled out his sword and held it straight out in front of him, pointing directly at Caelan.

"Caelan," he said with laughter in his voice, "Fight me."

Caelan's eyes widened, and then a thick smile crept across his face, marking their deal.

* * *

Hakoda laughed as Caelan tripped his leg. They had already declared that Hakoda had won, but now Caelan was just messing around. He tackled Hakoda and tried to ground his face into the snow. Hakoda was laughing, trying to keep his head up.

Suddenly, there was more weight on his back as five more guys piled on top of them. All the air that was currently in his lungs was soon extinguished as more guys piled on. Hakoda still felt like laughing until his stomach hurt.

When all the guys finally rolled off, Caelan brushed off his pants, and held a hand out to Hakoda. When Hakoda was on his feet, he brushed off the snow as well. His eyes then went to the younger age group of seventeen year olds through thirteen.

A smile still plastered on his face, his eyes met one of the kids. It was that teenage boy again. He could only guess that he was the one Kya was close to. _Manu. _

The boy's eyes looked at him, widely. As if a challenge, Hakoda raised his eyebrows, and then thought better of it. _Just what am I challenging? _He thought and looked at Manu more closely. _He's still a young boy. _

Hakoda brushed the snow off of his ponytail and blew the short chunk of hair out of his eyes. He turned away from the younger group, hearing the master start up their session, and went to find where he had thrown his parka.

His parka was now soaked, and he groaned, starting his way to his house, where he would need to start a fire to dry it out.

Once home, he poked the fire and hung his parka near it. The warmth of the flames was welcoming and calm. He sat back and thought to himself about things that needed to be cleared.

He finally sighed, and stood up, exiting his home and walking twenty feet to him old one. He poked his head in the flap and called his mother's name. There was no response. _She is probably helping out with the preparations for party tonight. _

He went back to his house and went directly to his bed, where he knelt down on his knees, and poked his hand underneath, searching for the box.

Not feeling anything, he frowned, and bent his whole frame onto the ground to look underneath. He saw it, back as far as it could possibly be and had to scoot under the bed to reach it. When he grabbed a hold of it, he hauled himself and the box out from underneath.

He blew off the dust and opened the box, a small smile dancing on his lips. He hadn't seen this thing for a year and a half, ever since his mother had given it to him. He pulled the small object out, and put it in his pocket.

* * *

Night was falling quickly and the party was about to start. People were bustling about and getting into their nicest parkas and doing their hair. Hakoda was sporting a freshly clean parka of a dark navy blue. He was walking with his mother, helping her carry some sort of dish that smelled like it could possibly have some strange fish he had once tasted when he went north for a week with the guys.

Let's just say it wasn't something he ever wanted to eat again.

Giant tables were set up in the center of the village, a giant community had already taken place. People were already laughing and chatting away, a small band had started up, and was warming their voices and instruments up.

Hakoda looked around, trying not to seen too obvious. He was trying to see if Kya was already out. But why should she be? Since it was her birthday, they would have to wait for her entrance. Hakoda swallowed the lump in his throat.

He spied Bato chatting with some girl. Bato caught his eye and signaled for him to come over. There was desperation in his eyes, and Hakoda laughed, leaning against a wall of a house, crossing his arms. Bato glared at him, but then had to smile at something the girl said. After a few minutes, Hakoda finally had enough and walked up to them. The girl blushed furiously, and backed away, saying she needed to go help her mother.

Bato glared at him. "Thanks for eventually coming," he said angrily, "She wouldn't stop talking about having to do her sister's hair this afternoon. I was about to rip out my own hair and give it to her so that she could have something to do instead of boring me with her story."

Hakoda just laughed, slapping Bato on the back. "Girls aren't all that bad," he said, "You just gotta get used to them."

Bato looked at him in interest.

"So it would seem," he murmured, and then looked at the group of people that were gathering. Hakoda looked at him strangely, but brushed it off, and looked around the mass of people. Now that the sun had gone completely down, the torches were lit and the giant center of the village was lit up in light. The band finally went silent, and everyone knew that the time was about to come.

Hakoda's heart started up. He tried desperately to swallow the lump in his throat, but it was still there, making it hard to breathe. He saw Nakoh, her father, walk up next to the band. Everyone instantly went quiet, wanting to see the birthday girl.

Nakoh, brought his voice into a loud, authority voice.

"Thank you all for coming tonight," he boomed, "I would now like to introduce that special thing you have come to gather and celebrate for." He paused and looked off to his left, motioning for someone. Hakoda craned his neck to see the person emerging, but people were still in the way.

"Everyone would you welcome my daughter, Kya, on her sixteenth birthday!"

A figure emerged from behind a flap of the closest house. Instantly, the crowd went up in hysterics; clapping and whooping, giving her praise. When she finally came into the middle of the stage area, is when Hakoda finally saw her.

Her hair was put up in a stylish do that wove around her head. She was wearing a thick dress of skins, all pure white, with bright blue trim, to complement her eyes. Her eyes. Even from this far away, Hakoda could see the brightness of them, and they matched the shy blush she wore from all the attention given to her.

Her hands were clasped in front of her, as she looked sheepishly up towards the crowd. They gave another whoop and the music of the band started up.

Even with the music blaring around them, Hakoda could hear nothing but the pounding of his heart. He could only see the one person, as everyone around him started to fade into the background.

Bato brought him out of it, by pushing his hand roughly up against his chin.

"Cut it out lover boy," he said slyly.

Hakoda came out of his trance and whirled on Bato. "What are you talking about!?" He said defensively.

Bato chuckled to himself, crossing his arms and leaning against the back wall. "You are so obvious," he mused, and then shifted his gaze towards Hakoda.

Hakoda was glaring at him now, sending ice daggers into his skull. "I don't know what you are talking about," he finally said and leaned against the wall beside him.

Hakoda watched as the first boy, Manu, bowed low to Kya and took her hand and started the dance. An angry feeling entered Hakoda's stomach and he felt himself wind up into a tight ball of frustration. He watched her twirl around, her shimmering white dress sweep around her. She laughed and danced with precise precision.

When the first dance ended, Manu bowed and went away. People were hurrying to grab another partner. Bato grinned beside Hakoda. "You should ask her to dance," he said devilishly.

Hakoda furrowed his eyebrows, and grunted to Bato. She wouldn't want to dance with him. He watched as she looked around awkwardly for another partner and finally, a tall, lean guy asked her. She accepted. Of course she would. It was her duty. He didn't want her to dance with him out of duty.

Hakoda slumped against the wall, watching through six more dances. The band stopped once again, and people were rushing around for partners. The singer spoke loud over the people.

"We will only have two more dances now, so grab a partner while you can!"

Hakoda's heart thumped.

Bato spoke coolly from beside him. "You're running out of time."

"Shut up," Hakoda grumbled.

His gaze had never once left Kya. Now, she was looking around for someone. _Hurry. Act quick. _

Hakoda pushed himself off the wall and briskly walked through the people. He reached her, where her back was turned. He took in a deep breath and tapped her on her feathery white shoulder.

She turned to him, a fake smile plastered on her face. When she saw whom was in front of her, her smile faded, and her eyes got wide. Then she grinned, a faint blush crossing her face.

Still, Hakoda couldn't tell if it was from dancing too much or if it was an actual blush.

"M-May I have this dance?" He asked nervously.

Her smile lit up her entire face. "You m-m-may." She giggled, her eyes making fun of him.

He chuckled, feeling his nervousness start to diminish. Not that much though.

He bowed low, holding out his arm. She grabbed it lightly, and swung around the crowd of people with him. At times she was so close that he could see some sparkles that one of the mothers had probably put in her hair.

He twirled her like he had when all the boys were required in school to take a dancing class. It was part of their heritage and therefore, everyone had to learn. But he had never felt this self-conscious about it before. Probably because he had never been paired with a girl he liked.

She was light on her feet, having had experience dancing with grace. No doubt her sister had pounded it into her head.

He barely remembered anything from that dance, all he could focus on was her touch on his arm, and his hand. The whole thing went by in a blur. And when he heard the music die down, he was completely surprised at how fast it had been, and was vaguely wondering where the time had gone.

He looked at her, she was breathing a little heavier from dancing so much, but her face had a certain glow about her, that he couldn't stop himself when he leaned down close to her ear, and whispered, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

He stayed by her ear for a moment, hoping for a hint of something to tell him whether she accepted or not, but then pulled away. Her face was confused, her eyes blinking.

"S-sure," she said. Then she looked around, making sure no one was paying any attention to her, as the next dance started up. She bit her lip, then smiled and he grabbed her hand, pulling her through the crowd, both of them trying to keep a low profile. He quickly pulled her into a deserted narrow street between some houses. They walked for a minute or so while they caught there breath. It was colder outside the circle of people and the giant torches. Quite dark indeed. Except for the moon that shown down on them.

He looked down at her face as he stopped walking. The moonlight was shining down on it, highlighting her features. He gulped, trying to pry his eyes away from her face.

He decided that now as better than never.

"K-kya," he said, choking on his own words, "I-umm. I."

She stared up at him, confused.

He backed up a few steps, and put a hand up to the back of his head. _Crap, what am I going to say?_

"Well… you see.."

He sighed heavily and looked up at the night sky. "In a week, I have my test." He stole a glance at her, she nodded. He continued.

"A-and if I pass..-," he mumbled.

"When you pass," she interrupted.

He pretended not to hear that, "I will become chief of the water tribe." He swallowed, but the dry feeling in his throat would not go away! "And… and if that happens, there is an obligation that is put upon me."

He stopped talking, not wanting his voice to panic.

"Which is?" she whispered in the night air, she took a step towards him, cautiously.

He looked down at her moonlit face, "I have to get married as well."

Her grin faded, her eyes blinking.

She turned around and looked back at the lights from the party that were shining up through the night sky.

"And, have you found someone in this little village?" She asked, her voice becoming hard and hushed. _The same tone she used when they first met. She is closing up again. _

Hakoda was quiet for a moment. "Yes," he said quietly.

He stood there a little longer than needed, and placed a shaking hand on her shoulder.

"It's you Kya."

She turned to look at him in horror.

"What?" she choked.

He gulped nervously, and withdrew his hand. He placed his hands on his head and looked up at the sky in frustration. "They expect me to choose so soon, out of all the eligible females here. It too much of a demand, I thought. But when I met you, it was like a…. a… miraculous meeting!" He pulled at his short pony tail nervously. "I have never felt this way about anyone before, and then you come into my life, and I am a complete mess! I can't stop thinking about you! I want to be near you, I am incredibly jealous when you are talking to another guy and wish that it was me that was right there by your side."

He stopped, realizing that his voice was growing louder and that he had grabbed her shoulders gently, and looked down into her eyes. Her eyes were wide and her mouth open.

"Kya," he whispered boyishly, "I never thought I could feel this way….but I do! I love you Kya!" His voice was desperate and his eyes looked at her lovingly. He released his grip on her shoulders and dug into his pocket, pulling out a necklace.

"Th-this," he said quietly, "Was my mother's betrothal necklace. She wanted whomever I was going to marry to pass it down through generations." He looked at her beautiful face and added, "I would be the happiest man alive if you were to wear it with that purpose."

Time was ticking. Ticking slowly. The air around them was thin and vapor-like. It was quiet and hard for Hakoda to breath in.

He held it out to her and she grabbed it hesitantly. Holding it in her hands, she rubbed it between her fingers and looked at the engravings. When she looked up again, her confused face had turned into a shy smile, and tears were overflowing her eyes. Hakoda panicked.

"Ah! D-don't cry! I'm sorry if I was too forward!" He flustered, his words hasty and stumbling.

"N-no Hakoda," she whispered, coming closer, "I am so…. so happy! I could never imagine that you would want _me _of all people." She laughed, her song wrapping around his head, making him dizzy. She tried to wipe some of the tears away, but gave up.

His face sighed in relief, "How could I not?" he said, "You are more beautiful and perfect than I could ever ask for."

She looked down at the necklace again, and suddenly, her face hardened again. Hakoda saw tears falling onto her hands. She looked back up, her face showing sadness and hurt.

"I can't," she whispered, her voice breaking.

Hakoda's heart stopped. He stared at her.

"What?" his voice was quiet.

She was now crying full force now, but Hakoda couldn't get his feet to move towards her. All he could do was stare at her dumbfounded. _Did he hear her correctly?_

"I-I don't…." she closed her eyes and forced herself to say the words, sobs breaking up the sentences, "I… just d-don't feel that…. w-way about…you."

The sobs racked his heart, and he felt his mind fly away.

_She doesn't love me._

She looked back up at him, her hand flying to her face, trying to wipe her now running nose, and fling away the tears. Still he stared at her.

"I-I'm sor-sorry Hakoda," she sobbed, and then clenched her hands and ran into the darkness. Hakoda was left standing there, under the moonlight, which now had decided to hide behind the clouds, so he was left in the darkness of the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Poor young Hakoda! I didn't see that one coming, did you!? AHHHH!! I wanna shoot my brain for coming up with this plot line! Ahahaha **

**But the story must go on! I think. ;)**

**Yey, young Hakoda!**

**Disclaimer:**_ I think I have a plan to make Bryan and Mike include me in their will. Heehee. But for now, I will admit defeat and say that I don't own Avatar: the last Airbender._

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Something was bright. Not extremely bright, but bright enough to annoy the heck out of someone. Light was spilling in is house through the window flap, something he had neglected to close when he came home last night. Last night.

Hakoda opened his eyes, the ceiling coming into view. The first rays of light were coming through his window and shining directly in his eyes. He grimaced and rolled over, putting his arm over his head, trying to block out the unwanted light.

His mind was completely blank now. His body was numb. Ever so numb. Why couldn't he think anything? What had caused this? He groaned to himself, and buried his head deeper into his pillow. That's right. That's the reason his mind wasn't thinking. He shut off his mind because he didn't want to think about it.

He lay there, his body feeling as if half of it were there and half was drifting into the spirit world. It felt light and unattached from his mind. Oh yeah, he didn't have a mind right now. It was in shut off mode.

_Get up Hakoda,_ he told himself mentally, _You need to get up._

He groaned again, and pushed up on his arms, feeling every muscle move and every vein tighten. He sat up on his bed, his arms dangling sadly on the bed beside him.

_Get dressed._ He pushed himself up slowly and was now on his feet, making his way across the room. He pulled on a long sleeve shirt and grabbed his parka that he had dried yesterday.

Once done, he stood in the middle of the room, waiting for his brain to give him instructions. His eyes glanced around the room, taking everything in, but never registering in his mind. He saw his navy blue parka and shirt on the floor where he had angrily thrown them left to wrinkle in a ball of hurt. He stared at the clothes, nothing playing through his mind.

_Grab your weapon, _he ordered. Hakoda's eyes turned to where his weapon was stashed and grabbed it, loosely tying it on his hip. _Tighter, _his voice hissed, _it will fall off if you leave it like that!_

He reached for the knot to undo it, but then brushed the idea away. What did it matter?

He started walking, his feet heavy. _Come on Hakoda, snap out of it!_

His steps became normal paced, as he wound through the small streets to the training area. Most guys were there already, warming up and tackling each other. He stopped and looked at each one carefully, no expression on his face. Nothing was going through his mind. Nothing was registering.

He stood there, for five more minutes, his hand on the sword hilt, watching.

When he saw the strong form of his master come into view, he told his feet to step forward and prepare for the day. He lined up with the rest of the men and they went through their daily warm ups together. Hakoda did it with the normal extent, but nothing else. His pace was normal, and he kept up with everyone else, but he knew he wasn't giving his all.

Lining back up, he stood tall, his hand on his sword ready for battle. He watched vaguely as the first group went, as his trainer paired some guys. He watched the second and third group with nothing so much as a glimpse of mistakes or how he was going to plan his strategy for today. His mind was deserted.

Then there was that sudden voice of his master telling him that he was up. Hakoda walked into the center of the snow ring and took his stance, sword out against his opponent. Caelan.

Caelan was grinning. "Good. I can finally have a rematch. This time you are going down Hakoda."

Bato snorted from the sidelines. Hakoda just looked at Caelan.

"What makes you think that Cae? No one has beaten Hakoda in a _long_ time. What makes you think today is any different?"

Caelan looked over at Bato, a grin on his face.

"Oh," he said quieter, "I can see it. There's something off about him today."

He turned his head towards Hakoda, a gleam in his eyes. "What about it_ Hadok_? Something preoccupying your mind?"

Hakoda was silent, just looking at Caelan. Slowly, ever so slowly, he cocked his head to the left.

Caelan took this as a welcoming sign. He shot off, sword blaring at Hakoda.

Hakoda's grip tightened on his sword, and he brought it up quickly, barely fast enough to block the blow. The force that traveled through Caelan's arm was sent through Hakoda's entire body. He grit his teeth and took a step back, ready for the next blow.

Caelan came at him again, his sword high. Hakoda readied his sword, but right at the last moment, Caelan swung his sword down to knee level and ran past him, his sword ready to trip Hakoda. Hakoda, at the very last minute possible, jumped over the sword.

The tip of his fur boot clipped the sword and Hakoda fell to the ground. His face found the snow, and he wrenched his head up, fury bubbling up inside of him. _No! _He thought, _this can't be happening! Get up!_

He let a yell escape his mouth, and instantly regretted it. It was too late to take back, and he decided to continue that pursuit. Still on the ground, he whipped his leg around with enough force to make Caelan's leg cripple beneath him momentarily. Hakoda scrambled for his sword and grabbed it. Caelan was getting back up with lightning speed, and Hakoda was on his way up.

He raised his sword in the nick of time as Caelan's came down, right about his head. The force Caelan was putting into pushing down on his sword was overwhelming. Hakoda grunted, the anger in his body boiling through every pore.

He felt the power inside of him becoming stronger and stronger. He pushed up, his muscles tight and abdomen clenched. His strong legs pushed and he pushed up against Caelan's sword as he rose to his feet, despite the crowd of people yelling at him to stay down. He saw Caelan's eyes widen, but Hakoda didn't care. He furrowed his eyebrows, and yelled at the top of his lungs. All the fury and hurt and hate he had inside of him was let loose as he pushed Caelan's sword away, flinging it to the side.

Caelan looked at him in horror, like he was some sort of monster. But then, he got a grin on his face. He was enjoying this fight.

Hakoda raised his sword above his head and ran at Caelan, anger dripping from every pore in his body. He brought it down hard on Caelan's, where he held it, applying pressure. He knew this would end in a stalemate, so he took the pressure off and swung again. His head was spinning, and he swung blindly, his force full of anger.

At that exact moment, Hakoda wasn't quite sure what happened. He raised his sword once more, but at the same time, Caelan swung his sword from his right, driving it directly into Hakoda's right side.

The immediate pain from the weapon claimed his body. His grip on his sword became weak and ultimately fell from his hands. Pain. There was pain somewhere. Where!?

Pain was erupting from everywhere in his body. He felt his knees give out and he fell to them, wincing at the fall. He saw Caelan's face, horror completely spread across it. He heard people yelling and running to his disfigured form on the snow.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, he turned his head and twisted his body to try to see the wound. The one that was causing him so much pain and agony. Someone pushed on his shoulder, to get him to lie down. He wanted to swat it away, but couldn't get enough strength to get his hand up.

He felt dizzy. _Am I losing blood?_

He vaguely felt the ice cold south pole wind seep through his body, from the place near his side. The sword must have cut though his parka. He shivered, as someone covered him with their parka. More yelling. _What were they saying? _

He saw the blackness before it tried to claim him. He tried to fight it and tell it go leave him. But it took him by force, and dumped him into the deep abyss.

* * *

Everyone had finally left the tent, exiting the flap. Kya was sitting on the snow bank across the street, waiting patiently for them to leave.

As they left for a break, she quickly snuck through the tent flap and into the cozy warm tent. Immediately she took off her hood and looked around. The fire was burning to keep it warm for those who needed the help.

She finally forced herself to look at the figure laying on the bed.

_Hakoda._

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at his motionless form laying on the bed. He was uncovered from the waist up, wrapped in thick white bandages over his entire chest and side. On the side that was facing her, she saw the blood that was weeping profusely through the bandages.

The tears fell down her cheeks now, as she stumbled over to his bed. She stood over him, tears dripping on his bandages.

His eyes closed, he had a sad expression on his face. The torment ripped at her heart. She sniffed and continued to watch his face. Her eyes then drifted down to the chest. She couldn't see anything, because of all the bandages. Good thing too, or else she would have blushed at the sight and hid. What she did notice however, was that he was well built. His strong chest, narrowing down to his waist. She focused on the movement of his chest.

She sniffed again, and bit her lip. She watched his chest move up and down. Breathing in. Breathing out. Each time his chest went down, she panicked, urging it to move up again. _Come on. Take a breath! _

The tears had stopped momentarily now, and she looked back up at his face. His hair was still pulled back in the traditional wolf tail. Now, his eyes closed, he looked younger and smaller. She smiled through her tear stained face.

The small chunk of hair that he had been so angry about was now somewhat brushed across his forehead. She reached up, touching his forehead, and brushed it aside. Her fingers tingled at the touch of her skin on his. She had never touched him skin on skin before. It was exhilarating. And soothing.

"I wish…" she started, but then stopped, her voice choking on itself.

She fell to her knees, the tears breaking their barrier and now tumbling down her face. She laid her head on the bed beside his wound and wept. Her breathes racked her body and she clung to the sheets that were covering him.

"Now, you're never going to become chief," she sobbed, "And it's all my fault!"

She grabbed his hand by his side and held the back of it to her face, weeping. His hand still to her face, she cried into the sheets. She didn't even hear when the doctors had come back in.


	8. Chapter 8

**Time: 2:55 PM**

**Guess what kiddies! I'm sick! Bleh! So….. I just kinda stayed home and sat down in front of the computer and typed. It's so annoyingly strange. As soon as the weather actually begins to become nice and the only day of the week that is 70 degrees in, like, seven months, I am inside sick with something. Ugh. There's my life for you.**

**So…. when I write chapters for this story, I always get waaaaayyyyy into it. I get way into Hakoda's character and…. Frankly it's kinda sad. But that's how it is for all my characters. So far, he is one of my favorite characters out of all the many stories of the years that I love! Definitely in my top three. Ugh, never mind. Hope you guys like this chapter. It's kinda sad that some things have to change. Poor Hakoda. **

**Disclaimer: **_Birthday in on week. Can anyone guess what I want for it? Can anyone try to contact Mike and Bryan and let them know what I want?_

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_Cold. _He was cold. His eyelids fluttering open, he moved his hands around trying to find something to cover his body with. _Why was it so dang cold?_

He moved his shoulder and then thought better. The movement caused his body to scream out and pain and he gasped. _That was unexpected. _

His eyes opened all the way now. He was lying on his bed, the familiar ceiling above him. He furrowed his eyes and looked to his right, where the fire pit was. It was barely flickering. _That's why it is so cold. It's dying._

He made a movement to swing his legs off the bed, and ground his teeth, a moan coming from his throat at the pain in his side.

"What in the world?" he wheezed, his hand flying to his side. He looked down now, finding his torso and waist wrapped in silken bandages. His eyes went wide, and he fingered the wrap. Directly on his right side of his body, was an enormous red clot of blood, soaked through by the bandages. He swallowed his words and ran his hand along the red spot. Luckily it was dry and he sighed in relief.

He looked back at the fire, the fight flooding his memory and playing over and over. He closed his eyes. _Dammit,_ _how long has it been since I last got injured? Not in a _long_ time. _His angered eyes now turned sad as he looked at the fire coals. His worst fears had come true and….. he didn't want to think about them.

He heard footsteps outside and his eyes glanced upwards, his heart hurting.

He saw the figure of his mother enter through the flap, and stand still, looking at him. Her eyes finally filled with tears, and she walked towards him, carefully wrapping her arms around his body. He grit his teeth at the pressure, but put his arms around her as well.

"Oh Hakoda," she whispered, her voice small, "You never fail to give my old heart a test."

She broke away and looked at him.

"I didn't mean too," he said, his voice hoarse from not speaking for a while. He was surprised at this and reached up, rubbing his throat, glancing at her sadly.

"I know," she said and turned to get some firewood for the cold coals, "But that is the way mothers feel hon. I will never stop worrying about you."

His face itched and he reached up to scratch it. His hand immediately made contact with rough, bristly, facial hair. He furrowed his eyebrows once more.

"How long was I out?" he asked carefully.

She looked at him, a motherly smile covering her face, "Four days. You sure do look like a man now don't you?"

He rubbed his jaw again. It had never been this long before, it was kind of strange.

He continued sitting on the side of his bed as his mother started the fire again.

_Four days. _He had been out for four days.

"The test is tomorrow," he whispered hoarsely, his voice getting caught up with the dryness. He tried clearing it, but gave up, allowing the dryness to take over his throat.

She turned and looked at him. "Now Hakoda," she started.

He gave her a sharp eye. "What?" he said angrily, "I can still fight." As if to show her that he could, he placed his hands on the bed, his shaking arms pushing up. He grunted at the electrifying pain shooting towards his heart. He sat back down, panting hard, trying to get the pain to go away.

She clasped her hands in front of her. "Hakoda, the wound is incredibly deep. Caelan got you pretty good. We stitched it up, but it won't heal for a very long time."

He stared at her like she was saying some sort of sick joke. "What?" he asked again.

She came over and sat next to him on the bed. "Hakoda," she said quietly, but in the motherly way he had always grown up with, "There is now way that you can fight tomorrow. I am sorry."

He stared at the floor, not wanting to have this information sink in.

"So," he started, his voce catching, "All that work for two years was for nothing. All to be wasted on an injury days before the actual test."

She placed a hand on his. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice high from the tears that were welling back up in her eyes. "There is nothing I would want more to see than you achieve that goal."

He closed his eyes. It had been years since he last cried. But now, the pressure of losing everything he worked for was now threatening to overflow. Luckily, he managed to keep most in.

As he squeezed his eyes tightly, one tear did manage to escape as he whispered to himself, "I will never become chief of the southern water tribe."

* * *

His mother had left and he decided to take a nap. When he woke up, it was near noon again. Hakoda clenched his jaw and made himself sit up. Sure it hurt like nothing else, but that didn't compare to losing what your destiny was supposed to be.

He walked across the room to the tub of water, near a mirror. He shaved, keeping himself stable, one hand on a table nearby, because he was wobbly from the pain.

Freshly shaven, he put things away and looked back down at his wound. It seemed that it hadn't opened, and he was thankful that it wasn't going to be a mess to change. He sat back down on his bed after grabbing some new dressing and started to unwind his bandages. The last layer, he was extremely careful with, for he didn't want to rip the skin away and make his wound bleed profusely.

When the last layer was gone, he looked down to inspect it. His eyes went wide and a thousand words entered his mind, none of them he spoke thankfully.

The wound was indeed large. A good six inches. He could see where Caelan had hit him directly under the ribs. He closed his eyes. _Thank goodness he didn't hit any organs._ The stitches were clean and precisely the same distance from each other. _One of the best women sewers no doubt,_ he thought bitterly. But every other part of his abdomen and side was purple and blotchy red.

Hakoda sighed and reached for the seal oil and herbs used as ointment. _Mom's right, _he thought sadly, _this is going to take a really long time to heal. _

He re-dressed the wound and sat on the bed, still bare chested. He looked over to where he kept his training bag, something he hadn't used in a while. It was cleaned out and ready for packing. Hakoda looked at it sadly, the gears in his head turning. Oh, turning. Ever so quickly. He had to leave.

* * *

He bent over one last time, wincing at the pain in his side. He really should be resting, but he had to do this. He grabbed the hilt of his sword where someone had carefully wrapped it up and placed it next to some of his things. He glared at it like it was an insect. It reminded him of the thing he could never have. He felt anger build up within him again, and he shook his head, calming himself down.

_Why not just leave it?_ He thought. He was about to put it back down, when he grabbed it again and tied it to his hip, making sure not to allow it to touch his wound.

That water tribe club, which everyone just called a sword, had been on his hip ever since he turned sixteen. There was very little chance he would ever part with it now. It was as much a part of him as breathing was.

He sighed and hefted the pack over his shoulder. He packed light, and the bag was easy to carry, but even with that, whenever he moved his shoulder, a wave of pain would shoot through him and he would either become dizzy or nauseous. This time it was the nausea that hit him. He swallowed and left the tent flap after putting out the fire.

As soon as he stepped out of his house he noticed the weather. Something was wrong. He looked up at the sky, looking off into the distance. Dark clouds, almost black as ash were heading this way. Of course they weren't ash, he knew what that looked like. But these were storm clouds. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Should he?

He walked over to his mother's house next door. He popped in, finding her cooking something. She turned around and gasped.

"Hakoda! What are you doing up! Your wound will open!"

She came over to him like a fly. He held up a hand to stop her. He winced momentarily and regretted it. She looked at him in horror.

"I have to leave mom," he said, his voice deep.

She looked at him carefully, her hands clasped in front of her. She didn't say anything.

Hakoda continued. "I'm going to the north pole."

Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened slightly, "Hakdok-."

He interrupted her, "I know what you are going to say mom. I know you have told me of your times and of the ways up north," he shifted his eyes to hers, boring straight into hers, "But I have to get out here. There is nothing left for me here."

He turned his head and looked at the floor, "There is a couple leaving for the north in a few days, but it looks like the storm clouds are headed our way. I am going up to my place to hide out and bear through it. I need to think some things over until that day comes. When the storm clears, I will be leaving with them."

She suddenly spoke, her voice hard and mature, "You know you are just running from your fears right? That's not the son I raised."

The words stung him. He closed his eyes. "I proposed…. To Kya," he whispered.

He heard his mother take in a sharp breath of air.

"And she declined." He whispered. He really didn't want to bring it up, but he had no other choice. "I lost the only girl I love and the position as chief. There is really nothing else for me left here." He sighed, the memories of everything in the past few days coming back to his brain, haunting him again.

He looked at his mother. Her eyes were glistening with moisture. She walked up slowly to him, and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

He groaned at the pain, but decided to suck it up. He put his arms around him and hugged her as well, but his strength was limited.

"I'm so sorry Hakoda," she whispered, her words laced with tears, "I had no idea that you were seeing a girl."

_Neither did I, _he thought, _It kinda just came up and bit me in the butt, before I could realize it._

He said nothing. She pulled away and looked up from her small height.

He finally saw how old she was. He had always thought his mother pretty young, but now, seeing her like this, after his father had died, and her son now leaving her for the place she had once left, he finally saw just how old she was. Not only physically, but mentally. He looked softly down at her.

"I'll come back to visit mom," he said, "someday. That's a promise okay."

Her voice was small, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

He shifted the bag on his shoulder, wincing again. "Yes," he stated, "I need to get away and see what my purpose is." He looked around the small tent, "And I don't think it is here any longer. It just has too many bad memories." He paused, "After a few years, I will come back, when the wounds are closed up, and maybe I can live peacefully."

He smiled softly to her, "Maybe by then, you will have a daughter-in-law."

She bowed her head respectfully, then looked back up in his eyes. "Be careful Hakoda. I risked my life, and gave up everything for the child of the man I loved. Don't go taking that away from me okay?"

He put his hand on her shoulder, and despite his sides protest, he bent down and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry mom. If Caelan can't kill me, others are going to have a pretty hard time doing the same thing." He smiled sincerely at her, and headed out the door.

He turned once more, looking at her small figure, he looked at her. He made the traditional sign with his hands, brushing it across his heart with two fingers, and bringing them up to his lips.

"Love you mom," he said at last.

Her eyes were watery again, and she repeated the sign to him.

"I love you too Hakoda."

* * *

He stalked out of the village and under the arch. The men were still training, and he walked over to them, spying Bato lounging on the snow pile again. He would have laughed any other day, but today was no mood for laughing. When people started seeing him, they yelled and ran over to him.

Some patted him on the back, and some gripped his shoulder hard, laughing and saying that the dead had come back to life. Hakoda smiled meekly at them, but couldn't give a heart filled smile.

He saw out of the corner of his eye, that Bato had sat up, wondering what all the commotion was. He stayed where he was, knowing when everyone else was done, Hakoda would come over to talk to him.

Everyone soon became silent. Hakoda's eyes shifted upwards and found Caelan standing before him. His throat constricted.

Caelan was looking at him, pain on his face. His eyes shifted to Hakoda's side and then back up to his face.

"H-Hey man, I'm reall-," he started.

Hakoda held up a hand.

Everyone was waiting for his response. Hakoda was frustrated. He knew he should be angry with Caelan with destroying his only chance at becoming chief, but………. He couldn't be. It was Hakoda's own fault at being angry and actually fighting with that attitude. He had it coming, and it wasn't Caelan's fault at ruining his future. It was his own fault.

"Calean," he said. Everyone was dead silent, waiting for a response, "It's fine. I messed up man, and it is completely all my fault."

Caelan's face relaxed a bit, but he was still tormented that he had actually injured Hakoda to the point of where he couldn't fight.

Hakoda looked at him genuinely. "Since there is no way for me to fight tomorrow, I want you to clean the floor okay."

Caelan's eyes went wide, his mouth dropping.

Hakoda finished, "If I couldn't be water tribe chief, the next person I would like would be you." He looked at Caelan with a glint in his eye, "So if you don't get it, I will be forced to kick your ass when I am healed."

Caelan grinned at this, and then put his hands together, bowing formally.

The others around him looked in awe and then followed suit. Hakoda's eyes went wide and he looked around him. The circle of men that had been gathered around were all bowing to him. He couldn't make any sense of it.

When everyone had finally finished talking to him, and left, Hakoda finally limped over to where Bato was sitting.

Bato eyed him carefully.

"You sure you should be walking around?" he asked cautiously.

Hakoda shifted the bag to his other shoulder, gritting his teeth from the pain.

"It's fine Bato. I have to do it some time."

"Yeah," Bato said angrily, "when you are healed."

Hakoda looked at him in shock. "What's eating you?"

Bato looked at his shoulder, and raised an eyebrow.

Hakoda shook his head in response.

"You're leaving." Was all Bato said. He knew for that for a fact. He had known Hakoda too long not to know what his thoughts were.

Hakoda sighed, and looked at the dark grey skies. He needed to hurry before the snow started falling. "I was, until the storm decided to change my plans for me. Now I have to wait for it to pass up at the fort, and then I will be leaving."

Bato was looking at the skies as well. "Yeah, we have to postpone the training test as well. Once the storm has passed, we will have one day to train, to make sure out skills are still in order. Who knows how long it will last. Our skills will be a bit rusty, I am presuming, even after a good week." His tone changed to sadness, and looked at Hakoda, "Where will you be going?"

"The north pole," was all Hakoda said. His eyes were still glued on the sky.

There was silence, and then Bato piped up. "I'm coming with you."

Hakoda looked down at him angrily, "No you aren't."

Bato stood up, and met his eyes to Hakoda's, "Why not? You aren't fit to travel. I can't stand seeing my best friend leave just because he is wounded, rejected and never going to gain the honor of being chief." His eyes were flaming.

Hakoda winced, "Ouch. You hit ever sore spot. Thanks Bato."

Bato rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. All I am saying is that I would rather leave than see anyone other than you become tribe chief. I can come with you to the north pole, where maybe we can join the army up there or something." His voice was sad and he looked over at the ocean.

Hakoda felt his heart swell, but he looked at Bato. "I have to do this on my own Bato. There are…… things I need to do and figure out. On. My. Own."

Bato looked at him harshly. Hakoda stared back at him. Finally Bato looked back at the water, silent.

"Fine," he said darkly, "But if Caelan screws up the whole southern tribe, I am coming to find you so that you can beat some sense into his tiny brain."

Hakoda smiled softly. "I think I could do that someday." He then shifted his weight, "Well, Bato, good luck on the test. I will see you one last time before the test, but that's all. I'm sorry that I am leaving, but I really gotta do this." Bato nodded in agreement.

The stood there a few more minutes looking at the ocean and the waves that were beginning to crash against the rocks and ice.

"I better go now," Hakoda finally said, "before the storm hits."

Bato nodded. As Hakoda was walking away towards the fort, he heard his name being called once more. Bato was right behind him. He held out his hand, and Hakoda smiled, and gripped his forearms. The water tribe handshake of honor.

"Be careful man," Bato said, "Don't you dare come back in pieces."

Hakoda snorted, and smiled, "Don't you worry. I don't think that will ever happen again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Time: 3:26PM **

**Well kiddies, tomorrow is the day! MY BIRTHDAY! Yee-haw! I already got a birthday gift from Mr. Wolf's Tail. And a birthday gift it was! It gave me inspiration to write this chapter, since I am having horrible writers block. **

**This story is soon coming to an end, because Hakoda's and Kya's story is almost finished. :) Sad, I know. I am going to miss these two, but hey, you never know, I just might end up writing another story about them.**

**Hope you all have a good day! I hope tomorrow doesn't turn out like last year. (My friend brought me lunch, and I got food poisoning. Yep. True story. Yes, it sucked. Haha)**

**Disclaimer: **_I really really really really really don't own Avatar: the last airbender. Birthday gift anyone? lol_

* * *

He opened his eyes for the fourth time that week. They were heavy and tired. He groaned to himself and forced himself to sit up, moaning at the pain. He looked down at all that he was wearing; long pants and his bandages around his waist. There was a red spot on his side. He had slept on his stomach last night without thinking, and the wound decided to bleed a little. He stared at it in frustration. He shook his head and got up, the pain becoming more and more tolerable the more he was moving around.

He bent to poke the fire, and keep the place warm.

It had been four days since he came up here, four days since the storm had started. He went over to the flap and peeked outside. It was starting to die down and he guessed he could go back to town tomorrow. He sighed heavily and scratched his rough face. His beard was starting again, and he had forgotten to bring something to cut it with. He could do that when he went back to the village, but somehow he didn't think he would shave it. It marked something in him, and he kind of liked the change.

Once the fire was going quietly, he sat back on the cot on top of his sleeping bag. He put his head in his hands, but it hurt his side too much to bend over so he gave up and laid back down on his back, his eyes glued on the ceiling.

Nothing but thoughts had been swarming his mind for the past four days. Dreams of fighting were haunting his dreams. The dreams of things he had lost, and things he had failed at. It was like his failure just couldn't let him go and had to make his life a living nightmare. And when he woke up, they haunted his thoughts, until he would go outside and sit in the snow and cold for a while. He was becoming a complete mess. Being alone _only _four days so far had already done that too him. He rubbed his jaw line thoughtfully.

He listened to the wind pound against the outside of his hut.

Hakoda's thoughts turned to a beautiful sixteen year old with cobalt blue eyes. His stomach tightened in knots and he felt nauseas. _Why? _He thought, _why did she spend all that time with me, even though she wasn't really serious? _He ground his teeth in frustration and at his broken hearted-ness.

He rubbed his eyes. _Dad was right, I _do _need to grow up and stop chasing childish things. I should have just become attracted to someone my own age. _

He knew he was kidding himself. He had tried that. And frankly, Kya was the only one he had ever felt that way with, and all he knew that was when he was with her, his head became muddled and he knew that he never wanted to leaver her side.

He sighed, but that was all behind him now. Or was it? He needed to talk to her one last time, and get some information sorted out.

Sighing heavily, his thoughts wandered to the north pole. He remembered the stories his mother had told him when he was younger, and then they seemed harsh and unnecessary. But now, thinking about it, that is exactly what he needed to be able to understand himself all the better. He would have to find a perfect master, one that would work him to the bone, and maybe then he would be able to prove his worth, instead of getting inured over his anger and reject.

He closed his eyes, knowing that it was going to be one hard day tomorrow.

* * *

He dressed his wound and put out the fire that had been his companion the past five days. He didn't bother putting things away because he had one more night here, before he had to leave tomorrow.

He walked out the door, after putting on his parka. The ice cold air bit into his skin, and he looked at the sky, seeing barely any clouds now that the storm had passed. It was going to be great weather for when they had the exam tomorrow.

He sighed, telling his mind to shut off again, and continued his trek down the long bank of fifteen minutes. But since it was slow going for him, and his wounded side, it took more like twenty five or so minutes. Once he reached the arch of the village, he heard yelling and swords clanging. The familiar sound rang in his ears, and he felt his heard swell at the thought of just watching the guys. He would have to stop by on his way back.

Hakoda entered the town. Some people waved to him and he lifted his good arm and returned the favor of their kindness.

He swallowed his sadness. _It is going to be hard to leave the place I grew up all of my life. _He pushed forwards, looking for the house of the couple that he needed to talk too. He walked past the open playground area. The kids had made giant forts and snow mounds, quite nicely actually. Hakoda smiled, pleased in the generation that was too follow. The teenage kids were running about, chasing each other and popping out of snow tunnels and pulling their enemies under as well. Hakoda chuckled to himself.

Then something hit him. It was almost instant and he grinned to himself, feeling dangerous.

He walked to the inside of the ground area and leaned up against the wall, a glint in his eye. Most kids kept playing, but some of the older kids were surprised at his presence and came over, questioning where he had been the past few days.

Hakoda only half smiled and raised his head, looking at them far below.

"You guys want a fight?" He asked carefully, his heart hoping they were up for the challenge.

One of the boys' faces lit up.

"Snow ball?" he asked eagerly.

Hakoda nodded his head affirmatively.

The grin on the boys faces grew.

Hakoda spoke now, "The young against us older men. You want to prove your strength? Now is the time."

He saw the boy's chest puff up a little and he said, "We can take you guys any day."

Hakoda's eyebrow went up, challenging the boy.

"Be here with your team in thirty minutes."

The boy nodded, and looked at the other teens. The shouted and ran off to recruit their others.

Finished with his game, a smug smile spread across Hakoda's face. He turned and walked slowly out to the where the men were training. As he approached, he saw the face of Bato look his way in surprise. Others noticed this and left from the sidelines of the two people fighting.

"Woah man," Bato said in surprise, "Nice animal on your face. It really does make you look older. Maybe I should try that."

Hakoda rolled his eyes and looked at him mischievously, his eyes looking around the group of guys that had come over.

"You guys wanna take a break?" He asked, a sly smile still plastered on his face.

Bato's eyes got wide. Someone spoke up, "What in the world are you talking about?" he asked, "We have to train!"

Hakoda rolled his eyes. "This is going to be your very last day before you become a _real_ man, supposedly. You guys should have a little fun, at least for a break."

The group was silent, and they looked at each other. Bato sighed heavily.

"You know, he's right. A little fun couldn't hurt our stress. Heck, it might even help relieve some."

There were some shouts of happiness and fists pumped into the air.

Hakoda, grinning, completely satisfied that his plan was working.

"Okay," he murmured, "Here's what I had in plan."

* * *

While the guys were rounding each other up, Hakoda paid a visit to the young couple that would be sailing off the next day. The young man and woman were feeding their eleven month old son some food, laughing and smiling. When he walked in their tent flap, the woman looked at the intruder and dropped the spoon, her mouth open. The husband picked it up and shut his wife's mouth, whispering that staring and gaping was rude.

The husband, Hakoda had remembered seeing before, gripped his forearm in welcome and encouraged Hakoda to sit down, carefully, and let him explain his plan to sail with them.

At first the man wasn't so sure whether he should allow this. After all, Hakoda was destined to stay here for all he knew. Hakoda had to break it to the man that there was no such thing anymore.

Over all, the man sadly welcomed him, sorry to hear that it was coming to this, but was happy that they would have someone to travel with.

Hakoda left the couples house and started walking back to the playground, finding it to have just started. The snow was starting to fall again. Hakoda had convinced the guys that he would not be a part of the team, due to his wound.

But that promise he never intended to keep. While people were tackling each other and shouting, laughter filling the air, Hakoda snuck in behind the line and ducked behind a giant snow bank, and into a secret hole he remembered hiding down there in his youth. From there, he poked his head around a corner and saw the whole battlefield.

Hakoda strained his eyes, looking for his object of revenge. It took a while before he finally saw her hooded head poke out from behind one of the barriers, and chuck a snowball directly into Bato's stomach. Hakoda smirked, seeing Bato fall to his knees momentarily, but ended up rolling behind a snow pile, laughing and completely enjoying himself.

He saw her move, and make a dash for another fort, on the outer wall, near where he was. Hakoda pulled himself up out of the hole, grunting at the pain in his side, and pulling at the stitches. He crawled to his knees and crouched behind a snow bank, waiting for her to pass.

As she moved past quickly, he latched on to her arm and brought her to his side, roughly, placing his glove over her mouth. She screamed into his glove and thrashed in his arms. He closed his eyes tightly, the pain from her squirming pushing against his wound.

"Quiet!" He whispered harshly, "Or else I might be forced to do something we both would regret."

He felt her fall silent and breathing heavily. He calmed his own heart that had started rapidly beating as she had come into view. She tried turning her head to see who her captor was, but he had quickly lifted her over his shoulder and was running behind a giant snow bank, out of view from both teams.

She was saying something, and he couldn't hear her.

"Shhhhhh!" he growled, and she was quiet again.

The pain of carrying her was tearing at his side, and he was breathing heavily from carrying her for such a long distance, when he could barely walk normally!

He ran out of the archway to the village and could hear her grumbling something. He held his tongue and took a sharp breath, biting the inside of his cheek in pain.

He ran to the outer snow bank and finally collapsed, his body falling and hers flying into the snow pile. She twirled on her knees and pointed a wild finger at her kidnapper, her hood falling off, and her hair splaying everywhere.

"Now listen you!" she started, and then stopped.

Hakoda was on his hands and knees, his head hanging low, his face not showing. He finally tilted it up, so that he could look at her, his breathing ragged, and one of his hands went to his side, applying pressure.

Her cobalt blue eyes widened in surprise and she backed up a bit, taken back at the appearance and husky looking face.

"Ha-Hakoda?"

He swallowed, trying to breathe in, but had to close his eyes at the pain in his side, and winced.

She gasped and come over to him, "W-what are you doing! You need to stay still, you aren't supposed to aggravate it!" Her hands went to his side.

He looked at her, his eyes flashing. He carefully plucked her hand from his injured side and placed it back in her lap.

Huffing, he braced one arm on his knee and pushed himself up into standing position. He was now towering over her small form, his eyes glaring down at her.

"I need," he breathed out harshly, his breathing still trying to catch up, "I need to know why you rejected me."

Her deer-like eyes stared up at him in horror. "W-what?" she squeaked.

"Why?" he asked forcefully, "Why did you reject me?"

She was looking at him like the young, weak girl that she was. She gulped and started, "Hakoda…"

He growled angrily, "Tell me. I have a right to know why you led me up to the reason that I thought you liked me! That was a cruel and inhuman thing for you to do!" He shouted these words at her, his anger growing, and he felt the back of his neck flare up.

Her eyes were sad and her mouth open slightly, her body shaking. She lowered her head.

"You wouldn't understand," she whispered.

That got him.

"I wouldn't understand!" He roared, "I wouldn't understand the feelings I was having towards someone I was extremely attracted too, and hoping that by some small chance that she would feel that same way about me as well! You are wrong KYA! You are dead wrong! I understand perfectly what you did! You used me! You knew I had feelings for you, and you used those for attention and fun. But you were never serious!"

He had to stop for fear he would blow. He was breathing heavily, the anger aggravating his wound. He clutched his side in a grimace, looking down at her bowed form.

Suddenly, she stood up, and he took a step back, his fighting instinct taking over.

Her bright blue eyes were pooling over with tears, and her eyebrows were etched deep into her forehead.

"NO!" She screamed at him, "You wouldn't understand!" She pointed a finger at him, her voice shaking, but staying strong.

"I love you Hakoda! LOVE. But you don't understand the fact that I am not supposed to marry you!"

He stepped back. _What?_

She continued, and took a dangerous step towards him, "I am only sixteen!" she screamed, putting her hand on her chest now, as if applying pressure to her heart.

"There are girls older than me that are to have the chance at marrying before I do!" Her voice dropped suddenly and she looked at the ground, the tears dripping off her face and into the snow.

"My sister, Leyna, has been waiting three years to have someone propose to her. She is the one that is willing to give everything up for her husband. She is the one that should be married before I do."

Hakoda stared at her.

"What would it matter?" He said angrily, his voice gruff, "I would have only married for love. Not duty. But obviously you can't."

Her small frame shook as she stood there, her eyes glued to the ground.

She finally raised her eyed to his, "I love you Hakoda, I really do."

"But it doesn't matter anymore," he said, his voice sad and dark, "Now that I can never become chief." He snorted to himself sarcastically, "But even if I _did _become chief, you wouldn't marry me. Some destiny this has turned out to be."

Kya's eyes bore into his, "I-I heard you are l-leaving. Is that true?"

He looked off to his right, "There is nothing left here for me."

He heard her whimper a little, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore her sadness that made him want to wrap his arms around her and comfort her.

He turned his body away, "Goodbye Kya," he whispered, but he knew she could hear him, "I hope you find the right man that can make you happy. He sure is lucky to have caught you as a bride. My only regret is that it wasn't me."

She was crying again, "H-Hakoda, please! Don't go!" Her voice cracked, "Please."

Hakoda looked up at the sky, the blue sky that had welcomed him that day.

"I'm sorry Kya," he said, his voice tight, "But I have already made my decision." And from there, he limped through the snow, back up to his fort, going to wait out another day until he could sail away from his past memories.


	10. Chapter 10

**Time: 7:03 PM on the windy west coast. **

**Birthday. That's all I gotta say. 18 baby! :D**

**Well.... this one.... I don't know what to think about it. It's kinda sad, and kind of chilling for me. Oh! Just read it! ahhhhhhhhh!**

**Please let me know what you think. This is how I pictured the plot line, and now that I have finally written it, I hope it is good enough. Your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks. :)**

**Disclaimer: **_I definitely do NOT own Avatar: the last airbender. Meh_

* * *

Hakoda groaned and wished he could roll over on his side for comfort. But with the wound being on the side he wanted to roll on, it made it virtually impossible.

He also knew it was morning, and that he needed to get up and get down to the ship the couple was planning on taking.

He rolled, carefully avoiding his sore spots, and sat on the edge of his bed. He was tired. He had barely gotten any sleep last night, his mind running over the things he had said to Kya. He winced and closed his eyes once again, regretting his harsh words.

He tied his hair back into its wolf tail, and wondered if he should grow his hair out anytime soon. Rubbing his jaw with his hand, he remembered that he now had facial hair. He sat there, rubbing it, his thoughts wandering momentarily.

Shaking his head, he forced himself to get moving and start the day.

Everything was easy to pack, and he left his sleeping bag there, since he had another one he had brought especially for the trip. He now was fully dressed, a double belt of a warrior that he had picked up a couple of years ago. He rarely ever wore it, because it was so precious that he didn't want it to break or get ruined. But now, he knew all of that was behind him. The belt wrapped around his hip area twice, in an "X", studded and two loops to attach his club and sword to.

He did this and snuffed out his fire. The room was dark, except for the small glow of light that always shone through the ice blocks half the house was made out of. He stood at the door now, and stared back at the small area.

The sadness he knew he would eventually feel had finally hit him. His eyes were tired as he looked around the room.

He smiled softly, as if wishing it goodbye, and telling it that he would be back some day before he died. With that, he nodded, and exited the house, tying the tent flap tight as could be, so that if no one came next time there was a storm, it would be safe.

The snow crunched under his fur boots, ones that were covered in fur from the leopardbear he had killed half a year ago. Something that always reminded Hakoda of his dad was going out and hunting for furs. One of the bonds he had had with him before he had died.

Hakoda's eyes were glued on the blank white snow underneath him, as he continued on.

His mind was blank and numb. When he first saw the grayish snow, it didn't register in his mind, until a few steps later.

He stopped and looked at the dyed snow. He turned his face up and looked at the snow ahead of him, the same grey color continuing. He turned and checked to see if the color really had changed, but there was a significant change in color from his footprints. He looked back ahead of him. _Something's not right,_ he thought.

He continued walking. Soon, the snow started falling and Hakoda put his hood up over his ears. It fell thicker and heavier, and was now blowing in his face. He stopped and looked at the sky, a puzzled look on his face. There were clouds, but they weren't snow clouds. The ones in the sky were white as snow.

Hakoda held out his hand and let the flakes fall on his outstretched arm.

Black flakes stained his glove.

His heart stopped.

_No._

He whipped his head back up towards camp.

_It can't be!_

Hakoda tightened his grip on his pack and ran as fast as his wound would allow him.

* * *

The ashes got thicker and thicker as he neared the village and came into the clearing. All of the training group of guys were already in battle with the fire nation soldiers. Shouts and the sound of swords hitting the soldiers metal armor filled the air. Hakoda was breathing in deep breaths trying to recover from the run down. His side was screaming at him to sit down, but he knew he couldn't.

He saw a few bodies littered on the ground, their life been taken to the spirit world by now. Hakoda's eyes grazed over the group as he saw another group of fire nation soldiers run off the boat, their entire arms engulfed in flames. He saw another group of water tribe members run at them at full force, meeting and maintaining contact, their shouts and yells echoing in the distance.

He saw a three run towards the village arch, and Hakoda ground his teeth moving his feet forward. _Over my dead body,_ he growled to himself. He intersected the group of black and red men as he swung his pack off his shoulder and rammed it hard into one of the men. The man stumbled, failing to regain balance as Hakoda kicked the back of his knees out from under him, groaning.

Hakoda whipped his sword out from its hilt, just as the other soldiers heard the man go down. Their faces covered by pure white masks, it made it all the more easier for Hakoda to picture them as objects instead of humans.

The soldier took his stance and before he could even dare him on, Hakoda had swung his sword around, hitting the man directly in the side of the neck. If that part of his uniform wasn't red before, it sure was now, as the man grabbed the side of his neck and sank to his feet, trying to blast Hakoda with a stream of fire.

Hakoda dodged it, twisting a little and regretted it instantly, as his side winced and groaned in protest. Taking in a sharp breath, he didn't have time to see the man he had just hit die, and he instantly swung at the other one that had been in the group that was now right behind him. Hakoda felt his shoulder graze past the man and he jerked his elbow back into the man's stomach, making him double over. Hakoda whipped around and brought his knee up sharply into the soldier's masked face. The man screamed as the mask broke into shards and impaled his face. He grabbed Hakoda's legs, his grip tight with fury and hatred, as the heat in his hands set aflame, burning Hakoda.

Hakoda's eyes flashed, but he did not dare yell. Instead, he swung his sword at the source of pain and in one clean swipe, cut off the forearms of the fire nation soldier.

The man screamed in pain, and the grip fell limp on Hakoda's legs, the snow becoming stained in red, everywhere. But that hadn't changed the fact that Hakoda had huge burn marks on his calves, near his knee, that part of his pants now toasted and burned. He winced, but didn't have much time before he noticed the first man he had taken down was on his tail, his arms engulfed in flames.

The man punched his arm out, a burst of flame shot directly at Hakoda. Hakoda ducked, and fell on his side to the right. He fell on his arm and leg, a sharp groan ringing out of his mouth. He felt the stitches rip and he yelled in pain, the electric shock shooting straight to his heart. The solider kicked him in the stomach and with no more air in his lungs, Hakoda fell to the snow, his face becoming ice cold.

He felt the blood oozing from his wound and he grimaced as the man kicked him in the stomach once more, the kick racking through his body.

Hakoda's breathing was ragged, as he tried to catch his breath in between kicks from the man. His grip was weak on the sword handle, and he stared at it like he didn't know what it was.

The soldier finally stopped kicking and threw his hand into the air, fire building up and ready to spout out. Something clicked in Hakoda's brain, and everything became slow motion. Hakoda gripped the sword handle, and pushed up on his shoulder, throwing the sword like a spear. The sharp weapon sliced through the flames that were headed his direction and made contact with the object of evil behind the flames of combustion that had come from the soldier. Hakoda raised his arms over his face, feeling searing hot pain on the backs of his arms.

He heard a sickening fall, and uncovered his face, looking at his parka, scorched and black now. He frowned and his eyes flickered to the sight of the man that had fallen backwards, Hakoda's sword protruding from his rib cage. The man's mask had fallen off, revealing the face of a normal man, his auburn eyes wide, and face slick with sweat. He was breathing hard, trying desperately to grip the sword and pull it out of his chest with his weak hands.

His time followed sooner than expected and his body went slack, his eyes still open, having seen the horror of war.

Hakoda got up, holding his side. Once on his feet, he toppled, and tried to regain his balance. The pain in his wound was ready to make him sick with nausea. He swallowed the sight that he saw now across the white snow. There were very few spots now that were pure white. They were either grey or red splattered. Hakoda felt his stomach lurch, but sucked it up. He saw a fire nation man run towards him, shooting fireballs. Hakoda's eyes got wide and he plucked his sword from the dead man's chest that had died moments ago.

A fireball flew past him, ramming into the arch of the village, successfully creating a huge dent. The man was close enough now that he threw a punch out towards Hakoda. Hakoda ground his teeth, knowing this would kill him, and ducked under the man's arm, his feet light, and his sword swinging around, hitting the man in the waist, digging up underneath the armor. The man growled at him, and pulled a large knife out of his belt, and swung at Hakoda.

Hakoda backed up momentarily, but not quick enough. The man scraped his left arm, cutting through his parka and slicing deep into his bicep. Hakoda bit his tongue and swung the sword, glad that it was his left arm wounded and not his right.

The sword hit the man in the chest, digging into the armor. The man sputtered, and Hakoda pulled his sword out and aimed it right at the heart. Before the man could get his hands up, Hakoda had impaled him and was now running into the heat of the battle.

Hakoda cut down a good six more soldiers, ducking, yelling, killing and avoiding more pain if possible. Hakoda soon began to feel dizzy, and he looked down momentarily at the wound at his side. His whole side of his parka was now stained red with his blood. It was pouring out pretty good, and he set his jaw, trying to get a hold of the pain.

He looked around, seeing Bato fighting, and tons of others he had seen. He passed a body on the ground, and felt his throat constrict at the sight of Nakoh, Kya's father, lying face up, a gaping hole centered through his stomach. Hakoda swallowed again, trying to keep the bile down, and turned away, where he saw another man fighting and fall as the bender created a sword of fire, and sliced the man's head completely off.

Hakoda's stomach lurched, as he recognized the man as Caelan.

Hakoda let out a yell of anguish and ran at the man, despite the sharp electric pain shooting through his side, threatening to kill him any second.

_You can't kill Caelan! He was going to be the next chief!_

The man noticed him, and Hakoda saw the different uniform of the captain of the fire nation ship. Anger boiled up inside him, and he screamed his hate at the man.

A small smirk of a smile graced the man's lips. There was no blood on him, and he had the cockiness of a leopardbear. He sent a fire whip at Hakoda, slapping him across the face, cutting and burning his face. Hakoda's body was thrown in one direction as the man laughed and wrapped another whip around his wounded upper arm. Hakoda winced, and pulled away from the rope-like fire. He was so close to the man now, that he swung at his sword him.

The man merely side stepped it and Hakoda swung again, a common game of cat and mouse. The man kicked with grace and knocked the sword out of Hakoda's hand, making it skid across the pink snow. Hakod stared at it as if skipped and tripped over its self.

Granted, Hakoda was tired. Oh so tired, and his muscles were screaming at him, his dizziness wrapped around his head, making images blurry and spinning.

But he knew he couldn't give up. He would never let his tribe down. He would die by the hands of the fire nation before he would give up.

The man smiled evilly, the small goatee on his chin taunting Hakoda. He held out one of his palms, ready to shoot at him and kill him once and for all. Hakoda grabbed his other sword from his hilt, the smaller, lighter one, and pulled it upwards.

He felt the sword make contact with the fire nation captain's arm and cut clean through it. The man yelled in agony and stared down at where his hand had been a moment ago. His eyebrows furrowed together and he raised his other hand now, completely pissed.

Hakoda cleaned that one off as well. The captain's eyes stared at him in horror, knowing that he was beaten, and his hands the sacrifice.

Hakoda pointed the tip of his sword at the man's neck, digging in a little. A small line of blood trickled down the man's throat. The man's mouth was open, his voice lost.

"Leave now," Hakoda growled at him, his anger pushing the sword more and more into the throat of the man, "Or else your hands won't be the only thing that I cut off."

The captain stared at him, the agreement in his eyes. Hakoda pulled the sword away, and the man shouted the order of retreat. The fiery golden eyes of the captain looked at him once more, his handless arms tucked up tight to his chest. Hakoda held his eyes with the look of authority for the time the man stared at him, and finally the captain turned and ran back along with the other soldiers to their ship.


	11. Chapter 11

**Time: 5:55 AM... Monday morning. Meh. Rain still occupies this part of the country.**

**Well, here is a short chapter. Sorry, I was going to have more, but my little brain wasn't working, and I really wanted to get this one out there for you all. Anyways, that makes it better for another chapter. Woot. **

**So... here is my proposition. Would you guys be interested in me writing an alternative ending where Hakoda actually goes to the north pole for a couple of years, and then comes back? I have a couple of ideas, but I won't write them unless people will actually read them. I just don't know if I am ready to let Hakoda and Kya go just yet. Heh. Yeah, so let me know on that.**

**Disclaimer: **_I surely don't own Aang and Katara. I don't even own Hakoda or Kya. You can thank Mike and Bryan for that. Thanks Bryke!_

* * *

Once the enormous ship had left, pulling from the ice it was stuck in, and was soon out of sight, Hakoda finally moved. He had been still as could be, not letting any emotion show, no fear, no pain. He couldn't feel the right side of his body right now, the pain from the wound taking over his entire right side.

Once he did move, he turned back towards the village and looked at the scene of the graveyard that lay before him. Never in his life had he seen so much carnage, even when he hunted, they never had this many deaths. The sight was horrific, as he watched men take of their blood stained gloves, and touch their bare hand to the necks of those on the ground.

He heard snow crunch behind him, and a strong hand grasp his shoulder. Hakoda winced at the slightest movement that reminded him that his wound had torn open. He turned his head to the left and found Bato, his face grim, and blood splatters lightly speckling it.

"I can't believe you fought," he said quietly.

Hakoda looked at the ground now, tired and numb. He didn't want to listen to Bato's discipline now, or frankly, ever again. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to get over this massacre.

Bato spoke again, a brotherly, proud tone in it. "But I am glad you did. We would have been killed if it wasn't for you."

Hakoda smiled momentarily, "Yeah, you would have." He then turned back toward the wounded, and deceased. He took a step, his leg immediately collapsing under his weight. He fell with a sickening thud, his hands splayed before him, trying to stop his fall.

The next thing he knew, Bato was helping him up, along with the help of someone else, and they told him they were taking him to the infirmary, because he had already lost too much blood. He didn't resist. He knew he was slowly dying, and if he lost anymore blood, it would be very difficult for them to save him.

He tried lifting his feet as much as he could, as they helped him limp across the snow. They neared the arch that was now broken, the bases the only thing left. Women were running out, screaming and crying as they saw the massacre of the wounded men, all trying to make it back into the village.

He was dizzy, and he swallowed hard. He didn't know whether or not he would be able to stay awake any longer. The pain had reached all points of his body, but he was so used to it now, it just became a numb feeling that he brushed off.

Suddenly, the next thing he knew was that there was someone grabbing the front of his burned parka, and he had stopped. He opened his eyes to find Kya's mother, crying and frantic as can be.

"Hakoda!" her voice screeched, "She's gone! My baby's gone!"

He tried to focus on her words. _Gone? Who?_

He blinked at her, his head pounding. She was crying into the front of his parka, and he couldn't figure out why.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" he managed, his voice wobbly, as if he couldn't breathe in enough air.

She backed up, and looked at him with pleading eyes, her hands clasped out in front of her.

"Kya's gone! I can't find her anywhere!"

He looked at her. In a flash his brain cells activated and he felt his heart pounding hastily.

"What!" he demanded, leaning towards her, his hand instinctively going towards where his sword was on his hip. He felt Bato's hand tighten on his shoulder, trying to get him to stay still.

The woman was now crying into her gloves.

"She was here, helping the wounded, and when we heard someone yell that the fire nation soldier had got into the village, she was instantly gone." Her sobs choked and her wail was enough to make Hakoda's stomach sick.

He looked at the ground, his eyes wide. _Where could she have gone?_ His heart was pounding in his ears. _Could she have been kidnapped by the soldiers?_ He looked back up at Kya's mother, watching her slow movements and tear stained face, as she looked desperately at him. _Does she know that I proposed to Kya? Is that why she came to me?_

His head felt dizzy, and he felt Bato and the other guy start to walk him again towards the infirmary.

"I'm sorry ma'am," he heard Bato's deep voice try to explain to her; "We have to get him to a doctor. He has already lost too much blood, and we can't risk him losing any more." He paused as they took a few more steps. "I will help you look for your daughter once I get him to the doctor."

Hakoda's eyes lit up. _I know._

He shifted his shoulders from the grasp of Bato and the other helper, twisting their arms around, and throwing them on the ground. The pain in his side tore at him, and made him gasp at the sudden movement, but he turned and forced his feet to move.

He heard Bato yell his name, and call for someone to get a doctor. Hakoda trudged on, gaining distance between him and the rest of the village. Hakoda sprinted under where the arch used to be, and turned to the right sharply. He focused on placing one foot in front of the other, breathing hard. Sweat was dripping down his forehead as he blinked it away from his eyes, trying to focus on the snow path ahead of him. Snow was falling now, mixing with the thinning ash of the fire navy. He squinted, trying to see through his blurry eyes and foggy mind. Heavy breathing was the only thing ringing in his ears, and her face the only picture in his mind. She had better be in his fort, or else he didn't know what else to do.

He felt a warm sticky substance run down his leg, his wound pouring more profusely now. _I'm going to die,_ he thought. But he pushed on. He had to see if Kya was alright.

He finally trudged up to his place, his lungs ready to burst. He noticed the flap tied loosely, and not how he had left it. He undid it as quickly as he could manage, but his fingers weren't working correctly, and he soon became fed up in a matter of seconds. He growled angrily, and grabbed his sword from its hilt, the entire thing covered in dried blood that was running down his leg. He winced from having to use his left arm momentarily, and he could feel the deep cut there weep blood as well.

Hakoda bit the inside of his mouth and slashed the knot on the flap open and stumbled in. He stood, panting in the doorway, the flap hitting him. He tried to take in his surroundings as fast as possible, searching for any sign of life. He was praying as quickly as he could that she was here.

His breathing was still heavy, his eyes shifting from the kitchen area to the fireplace to the cots. There was no one there. He felt his heart sink and nausea build up inside his stomach.

He heard a small sniffle, and his ears sprang to life. Eyes darting, Hakoda looked in the direction of the sound, his heart swelling in hope once again.

There in the corner was a small lump, wrapped up in his sleeping bag.

His heart was pounding, and he took a step forward. His right leg gave out and he reached out, and stabled himself against the wall.

"Ky-Kya?" he said loudly, his voice shaky and scared.

The lump moved a little, and went still. He moved closer.

"Kya?" he whispered this time, "I-is that you? It's me. Hakoda."

The lump moved and out popped the small face of his one love. Her face was tear stained, and red, her once blue eyes pale as the moon.

"Ha-Hakoda?" she hiccupped, new tears running down her face.

He was over to her in an instant, kneeling on the floor. Without thinking, he grabbed her face and smashed his lips to hers. She eagerly kissed him back, her small frame shaking from fear and happiness. Her arms hesitated, and finally went up around his torso. He moved his left arm, and moaned with pain.

He had to pull back, for he was completely dizzy. The blood loss and the kiss had done too much for his body. He put his hand to his head.

She buried her face in his chest, crying quietly. He couldn't say anything. He didn't want to. He laid his head on hers and let her cry into his parka, which he probably should have mentioned was covered in enemy blood.

Her arms were unconsciously on his wound on his side, and after a while, he couldn't hold in his groan anymore, and she pulled back, scared.

Kya looked at his face, her pools of blue cobalt blue, finally having life return to them. She quietly brought her face up to his and kissed his lips lightly. He pulled away after a moment, and brushed back her hair, and kissed her forehead. She leaned into his chest again.

But she pushed too much on him and he moaned in protest, his wound ripping again. He pulled away and leaned up against a wall.

She crawled over to him and looked at his side, not able to hold back her shriek.

"Hakoda!" she wailed, her fingers flying to the right side of his parka. The entire thing was almost completely soaked in dark red. He was breathing hard now, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

"We have to get you down to a doctor!" She pulled at her hand, trying to get him to stand up.

"Ouch, Kya stop!" he moaned, "You're hurting me!"

"Oh no! I'm sorry!" She instantly let go of his hand and brought her fingers up to her mouth, "But we gotta get you a -."

Hakoda closed his eyes, all his pressure leaning back against the wall. "Bato is sending one up soon enough," he whispered.

She sniffled, "But…"

He breathed deeply out, and opened his eyes. "I'm fine."

Her eyes went hard, "You're lying."

He cocked his head, "So what?"

New tears were forming in her eyes, and she kneeled down to his eye level.

"I don't want you to die," she said quietly.

He looked at her softly, "Why was it that I found you up here? Why did you run away?"

She sat against the wall and leaned her head in the crook of his shoulder. "I hear the invasion, and all the men fighting. I ran up here as fast as I could to find you and warn you not to come down."

He narrowed his eyes, "Why would you want to warn me?"

She was quiet for a moment, "Because I didn't want you to fight, because you are wounded, and…." She paused, "I didn't want to lose you." She sniffled again.

He knew the little game she was playing. He smirked to himself and kept quiet, his breathing patter uneven now.

A few moments later, Kya spoke again, "I love you Hakoda."

His heart stopped beating. He was silent.

His head spinning he finally asked her, "Enough to marry me?"

With no time to spare she answered, "Yes."

He looked down at her, his eyes wide.

As if to answer the unasked question of his, she leaned into him and kissed him once again. He pushed against her happy of the invitation.

That's when the blackness hit once and for all. He could feel his body go slack, his head numb from thoughts. He heard Kya gasp and call for help. He heard footsteps finally enter and finally everything went completely silent.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Avatar: the last Airbender._

* * *

The day of Hakoda's wedding was the same day he became the Southern Water Tribe Chief.

There was a small stage area made of ice that both Hakoda and Kya were perched upon, staring at each other in front of the entire village. Their vows were recited, oblivious of the entire world. All Hakoda could focus on was his wife's beautiful smile and bright enough eyes to light up the sky.

His newly made parka was pure white, with black leopardbear fur along the edges, his sword glued to his side. It really was quite hard for him to part with something he was quite dependent on.

Kya's hair was looped from the front to the back, in a small bun, and the rest tumbling down her back, curling at the bottoms. A small blush was tinting her face, but her smile gave him relief in his own nervousness.

When they were done, they turned and faced the crowd, as the applause and hollering started up. Hakoda felt his neck flare up at the attention and laughed with Kya, as she bit her lip and looked up at him in humor.

Just as they were about to step off the ice stage, Bato walked up and held up a hand. There was a mysterious smile on his face and he shook his head slightly. Hakoda raised an eyebrow, and looked out into the crowd, completely confused. He saw his mother, her face glinting with tears, smiling happily at him, and nodding slowly.

He turned his head back towards the crowd just as he saw them splitting in half, making a pathway. His eyes grew wide as he saw the figure become the person of his master. He swallowed hard, wondering what was going on. He looked down at Bato and all the other men from his training group. Their smiles were hard to hide, completely stretched across their faces.

Hakoda's master finally made it through the people and came up to Hakoda and Kya, stopping and clasped his hands behind his back, his dark charcoal eyes boring deep into Hakoda's.

"Hakoda," he said, his voice loud and reaching all the people of the crowd, "I am here on behalf of the entire Southern Water Tribe to thank you for your obedience to the village and protection you have shown to us. Despite the fact that you were gravely wounded, and defeated at one point, you still fought for the lives of these people with everything you had, up until the point where you were barely alive yourself." He paused, causing Hakoda to swallow hard, and wonder what was going to happen next.

His master raised his chin slightly, staring up at Hakoda on his pedestal.

"It is our honor to ask you to become the next chief of the Southern Water Tribe."

Hakoda's mouth dropped a little. _Did he just ask what I thought they did?_

"Are you willing to accept this position on behalf of the entire village and protect it as long as you live?" His master finished, and looked up at him curiously, an eyebrow raised.

Hakoda's eyes went soft, his heart pounding. _How was this possible?_

His eyes shifted down to Kya, who was looking up at him, her eyes watery. She nodded, her arms tightening on his, where they were linked. She leaned into him, smiling brightly and proudly.

Hakoda looked back up at his master.

"Yes," he said deep, with authority. A feeling of unbelief filled him up and overflowed as he looked at the crowed in awe.

There before him, his eyes grew wide as his master went down on one knee, his head bowed, showing obedience to him and his wife.

Hakoda felt his heart swell full of love as he watched each and every person in the crowd slowly take one knee, as his master did and bow their heads towards the new Southern Water Tribe Chief Hakoda.

* * *

Three years had passed now, and here came the hardest trial Hakoda had ever faced. He sat outside his house in the snow; his back leaned up against the wall. His head was hanging in his hands, completely frustrated.

He heard footsteps crunch near him and he glanced up, pulling his head from his hands for a moment. The sight of Bato wasn't enough to comfort him in the least. He put his head in his hands again and groaned.

A chuckle rose from Bato's chest.

"Here sits the fearless Hakoda of the Water Tribe. You have killed hundreds of men without a second thought. Their cries reach your ears and you cruelly and ruthlessly ignore them. Yet you can't stand the sound of your wife moaning from labor."

Hakoda looked up and glared at him. "I've never killed anyone I've loved. She is completely different."

There was another scream from inside the house and the housewife and his mother trying to calm her down. Hakoda fought the urge to run inside and comfort her somehow. But he knew it was all in vain. There wasn't anything he could do to help her but sit idly and let the doctor deliver the baby. She knew what she was doing.

There was another yell from Kya.

"I'm going to kill Hakoda!"

Hakoda's eyes went wide and he looked up at Bato, who was now holding his stomach and leaning against the wall, laughing so hard he was crying.

Hakoda got up and shoved Bato hard, "Shut up!" He growled.

Bato was laughing incredibly hard now that he couldn't even stand up, and he sunk to the ground, crying, and pointing at him. Hakoda grabbed the front of Bato's parka, and was about to let him have it when there was one final yell and everything was silent.

Still gripping Bato's parka, Hakoda's head turned towards the door of his house, his heart pounding.

Silence filled the air. Even Bato was quiet, trying to wipe the tears from his eyes.

A small cry rang out through the air, and Hakoda's heart stopped. _That's my child._

He got up to his feet, his legs wobbly. He stumbled through the flap in the house, taking in the scene. Kya, exhausted and disheveled, lay in bed, a faint smile on her lips. He walked over to her, and kneeled down beside her bed, their eyes level. She grabbed his hand, hers weak and tired. Hakoda was shaking with anticipation and happiness.

A small smile tugged on her lips, and she finally turned her head as Hakoda's mother came in with a small bundle in her arms, an enormous grin plastered on her face. She carefully placed the child in Kya's arms.

Kya slowly pulled back the flap of blanket covering the face of the child. When she did, Hakoda gasped at the child in her arms. His heart was full of pride and love, looking at this child, his little baby boy in his wife's arms.

Kya was gazing at the child lovingly, her motherly instinct taking in.

She looked over at Hakoda, her eyes full of tears. He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips, tasting her tears.

They had talked about names for the baby a while ago, for both a boy and a girl. He gazed into her eyes.

"Sokka?" he asked, lifting his hand and running it over the baby's fuzzy head. The boy squeezed his shut eyes even more and wiggled a bit.

Kya glanced over at Hakoda's expression when he was touching the baby. She saw the face of a wonderful father and husband. She knew her life was just the beginning of something legendary, although she would never tell Hakoda. She could just feel it. She looked back at the baby, and watching as the baby's fingers curled around one of Hakoda's, and heard him chuckle.

"Sokka," she whispered.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
